Posted: Nov 14, 2025
UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. — The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball opened the Chris Fowler era with a 79-77 home win over Hillsdale on Friday night.
Redshirt sophomore Xavier Thomas (Detroit, Mich.) paced the Cardinals (1-0) with a team-high 32 points. He also contributed on the defensive end as he tied for a team-best six rebounds on the evening. SVSU's effort on the defensive side down the stretch proved to be the difference in the game.
"To be down in the second half and for the guys to climb back the way they did, I really think we stuck to the gameplan over the course of the 40 minutes we had the necessary focus that we needed and we had guys make some big shots down the stretch that ultimately propel us, but our defense is what won us the game," said head coach Chris Fowler.
The score remained close through the first media timeout of the first half, with the teams trading buckets at the start before junior guard Marquese Josephs hit a driving layup in transition to spark a stretch of eight-straight points and build a 10-4 lead at the 16:08 mark of the opening half.
Josephs was another transfer who made his presence felt in his debut, scoring 21 points and leading the team with four assists, and was named the Meijer Player of the Game.
The first 20 minutes of play were a battle as neither team managed to pull away, with the largest lead coming at the 2:43 mark in the first after Jospehs capped a layup with an and-one for a 34-27 lead. The Chargers erased that deficit with a 7-0 run, taking a two-point lead (38-36) into the break.
Josephs had a big first half, scoring 15 of his points in the opening frame. He led the Cardinals in scoring and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor through the first 20 minutes of play.
Hillsdale built its biggest lead at the 14:01 mark of the second half, 44-51, after a second-chance layup was made. The gap hit seven three more times, the final one occurring with 6:24 left in regulation, and the Chargers were ahead 67-60.
Thomas hit a turnaround jumper before Bryson Huckeby (Freeland, Mich.) forced a turnover, and Josephs cashed in on a layup through contact and completed the and-one to put the Cardinals within two (67-65). Thomas then drew a foul and made both of his free throws to tie the game with 4:58 left to play.
Hillsdale would hold onto the lead until Thomas made two more free throws to tie things at 71 in the closing three minutes before hitting two big shots from beyond the arc to put the Cardinals ahead by six points, 77-71, with 56 ticks left on the clock.
The SVSU defense forced the Chargers to rely on free throws to remain in the game down the stretch, as they didn't allow a field goal from the opposition for 3:13 of the final four minutes and held on to take the win in the season opener at home.
Saginaw Valley State finished the night shooting 57.4% from the field (27-of-47) while holding Hillsdale to 45.5% from the floor. The Cardinals totaled five blocks, with three coming from Kevonne Taylor (Detroit, Mich.). Dontez Scott II (Romulus, Mich.) led the defense with two steals while also scoring 11 points on offense.
UP NEXT: SVSU gets a day off before making the trip to Hillsdale to face the Chargers again on Sunday, November 16 at 3:00 p.m. (ET).
