GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The season is finally here for men's basketball as they play in the annual Crossroads/WHAC challenge to start the season. The Golden Eagles open up play against Spring Arbor on Friday, October 27 and then wrap up the two-day event against #9 Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday, October 28. This is always a good test to open up the regular season with facing a nationally ranked opponent to open the season, every year. The young talented team will look to open their season on a high note against Crossroads League Opponents.
 
 
Opponent: Spring Arbor
Location: Fort Wayne, Ind. (Schaefer Center)
Date: Friday, October 27
Time: 5:30 p.m. EST
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Opponent: #9 Indiana Wesleyan
Location: Fort Wayne, Ind. (Schaefer Center)
Date: Saturday, October 28
Time: 12 p.m. EST
Live Video
Live Stats
 
Season Outlook
Men's Basketball was tabbed to finish fourth this year in the WHAC conference behind Lourdes, Rochester, and Indiana Tech. Lourdes got the majority of the first-place votes with Rochester right behind them at second. National Championship runner-up Indiana Tech was tabbed to finished third as they have a revamped roster for this upcoming season. Cornerstone lost two starters in Carter Nyp and Trent Summerfield from the previous season but return the majority of their roster and starters.
 
Key Returners
The Golden Eagles returned a good portion of their roster from last year with the big returners being Cory Ainsworth, Luke Rowlinson, and Eli Steffen. Cory Ainsworth led the team with 17.1 points per-game and received First Team All-WHAC honors as the center for the Golden Eagles. Luke Rowlinson comes off his best year as a Golden Eagle where he improved in every asset of the game scoring 15.1 points per-game and receiving Second Team All-WHAC honors as a sophomore last season. Eli Steffen returns as the point guard running the offense as he did efficiently all year last year. Steffen led the team in assists as he looks to have another jump all around this year. Look for these three to lead the way for the Golden Eagles with games starting over the weekend.
 
Looking At Spring Arbor
Spring Arbor comes into this season looking for a fresh start as they had a year that wasn't typical of Spring Arbor basketball where they finished 11-17 last season. Gabe Newhof returns for his sophomore season where he averaged 19.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per-game as a freshman, where he was also named Crossroads Freshman of the year. Look for the Cougars to utilize him early and often this year as they took to their leader for another impressive season. The Cougars key loss from the previous season comes from starting point guard Austin Braun where he led the team with 114 assists for the year.
 
Looking at Indiana Wesleyan
Indiana Wesleyan is never an easy task to start the season where the preseason poll ranked the Wildcats 9^th to start the season. It wasn't a typical IWU season last year where the Wildcats finished with an overall record of 21-10 as they lost in the opening round of the National Tournament. The Wildcats return two key starters in Javan Buchanan and Griffin Kliewver who are now in their sophomore and junior seasons looking to improve from their successful seasons last year. The Wildcats also have an addition of guard Luke Brown from Stetson University where he is named All-League First Team for the preseason honors for the Crossroads League. He had a 27-point game against Florida State last year. The Wildcats lose their seven-footer in Seth Maxwell who was an honorable mention All-American and Crossroads League Defensive Player of the Year who always caused problems in the games against the Golden Eagles.
 
Men's Basketball Contact: Jesse Campbell
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