HILLSDALE, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team opened the 2024-25 regular season with an 81-69 loss at Hillsdale on Friday afternoon. The Cardinals (0-1) finished the game shooting 42.1% from the floor (24-57) in the losing effort.

Toodles Seal led the way with 18 points for SVSU. Freddie McIntosh scored 11 points. Bryson Huckeby and Triston Nichols tallied 10 in their debuts for the Cardinals. Richmond Mawutor and Seal led the team on the glass with four rebounds. Dontez Scott II scored eight points and recorded three rebounds off the bench.

Seal got things going for the Cardinals hitting a shot from beyond the arc to take a 3-0 lead. The teams swapped three-point jumpers as the Chargers hit a third-straight three, with the latter sparking a 5-0 run that resulted in an 11-6 lead in favor of Hillsdale at the 16:54 mark of the opening period.

Elijah Mattingly and Nichols hit layups to cut the lead to 13-12 with 13:26 on the clock. An and-one off a jumper by the host pushed the margin to 24-15. McIntosh made a three-pointer and started a 7-2 run that consisted of a dunk from Seal and a layup by Huckeby that trimmed that lead to 26-22 with 7:00 remaining before the half.

Hillsdale built a wider gap in the final minutes of the first, and the Cardinals faced a 44-35 deficit as the teams entered the locker room at the break.

SVSU shot 13-for-28 (.464) from the floor and 4-for-9 (.444) from three in the first half. The Cardinals totaled 13 rebounds, 27 bench points, 15 points off turnovers, and 13 fastbreak points in the opening 20 minutes of play.

An 8-0 run early in the second half allowed Hillsdale to extend the lead to 54-36. SVSU battled back to cut the lead 12 points (81-69) in the closing minute, but the Chargers maintained the lead through regulation.

UP NEXT: The Cardinals get a second shot at Hillsdale as the Chargers visit O'Neill Arena this Sunday, November 10 at 3:00 p.m. (ET) in the home opener for Saginaw Valley State.