NEW LONDON, N.H. –  The Colby-Sawyer men's basketball team opens the 2023-24 slate tonight in New London with its hopes set high for the season. The Chargers ended 2022-23 with a 10-16 overall record and a 7-10 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) record. Colby-Sawyer would end the season in the playoffs with an exit to Albertus Magnus. 

GROWING EACH YEAR
Head Coach Dan Kaigler enters year three after two GNAC playoff appearances under his belt, but this season he wants to continue to see growth and push for more success. 

"We've had two years of making the playoffs and now we are looking to build off that hopefully. We want to build off the success that we have had in previous years and just to continue to get better every day. We have a lot of new guys to integrate into things. Our guys are working hard. We have a good group that puts in the work everyday, whether in practice or out of practice and we are ready to work."

RETURNING TO MAKE AN IMPACT
Colby-Sawyer only returned four Chargers for the 2023-24 season with a junior Mike Joanou (Burbank, Calif.) being the only member to start a game in 2022-23.  

Joanou saw action in 20 games in his first year in New London making six starts. Mike averaged 2.5 points and 1.1 rebounds per game in 11 minutes per game.

Other returners include sophomore Sadiq Abdullahi (Homestead, Fla.), junior Owen Morse (Shelburne Falls, Mass.) and junior Juan Nieves (Manhattan, N.Y.). 

"The preseason poll has been pure motivation for us", said Joanou. "We know that our collection of guys is focused and ready. We are excited to take every game one game at a time and keep building and building. We won't be the best team we will be until the end of the season."

NEW NAMES, SAME GOAL
This year the Chargers added 10 transfer student-athletes and two first years to the roster to go with the four returners in hopes of competing for a GNAC playoff spot. 

"I expect us to do well this season", said graduate student Bryson Jenkins (Gary, Ind.). "We have a lot of great players and we are still learning, so the ceiling is high. We have to just keep working, keep doing what we are doing in practice and keep getting better. One thing I am excited for is to compete, get after it and win some games."

"Playing with these guys everyday is really good", said junior Chaz Cullum (Omaha, Neb.). "I enjoying coming to practice and competing with these guys everyday. We are going to continue to build and get ready for the season. Expectation wise, we have high expectations. I am really excited for us to come together and click to reach the GNAC tournament."

Guards (10): Sophomore Nate Maldonado (Bronx, N.Y.), junior Chaz Cullum (Omaha, Neb.), junior Dhey Allen (San Mateo, Calif.), sophomore Jay Carter (Galesville, Md.), junior Jaisan Parker (Durham, N.C.), junior Jaquan Mosely (Deep Run, N.C.) junior Nick Grant (Houston, Texas), graduate student Bryson Jenkins (Gary, Ind.), first year Hunter Bates (Wellington, New Zealand) & junior Cha'Mar Martin (Columbia, S.C.)

Forwards (2): First year Sean Peterson (Chester, N.H.) & junior Bullen Taban (Phoenix, Ariz.)

SEASON OUTLOOK
Colby-Sawyer has an 26-game regular season starting on November 8th with the home opener against Salem State University. 

Other key conference games on the schedule include hosting GNAC pre-season favorite Albertus Magnus on December 2nd, on January 16th taking on inner-state rival New England College in Henniker, hosting inner-state foe Rivier on February 7th and ending the season at the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on February 17th.

The Chargers were selected 12^th in the GNAC Preseason Poll getting 73 points. This year 10 teams will qualify for the playoffs with a play-in round added before the season.

For the latest on Colby-Sawyer Athletics, follow the Chargers on Facebook (www.facebook.com/CSCathletics), Twitter (www.twitter.com/CSCathletics) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/CSCathletics).