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CHARLESTON – With three, very different, games under their belt to begin the 2025-2026 season, the Charleston Southern men’s basketball program is in an acceptable 2-1 situation ahead of this week’s 2025 Bulldog Bash hosted by Alabama A&M. CSU will face the host institution, Alabama A&M, on Thursday night and will then suit up again the following evening against the Lindenwood Lions.
A brief preview of all three opponents can be found below:
Game #4
Opponent: at Alabama A&M
Date: November 13th
Time: 8:00 PM Eastern
TV: SWAC TV
Picked 6th in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Preseason Poll, the Alabama A&M Bulldogs have their goals set on the conference’s top-five as they only returned two players from last season and have a first-year at AAMU head coach, Donte’ Jackson.
Prior to joining the Bulldog program in April of 2025, Coach Jackson was the leader of fellow-SWAC institution, Grambling State. His transition from Grambling was not solo as six members of the Grambling State program have since joined Coach Jackson in Huntsville: Kintavious Dozier, PJ Eason, James Graham III, Lou Hutchinson, Gabe Kincy, and Samuel Onu.
Two games into the 2025 season, AAMU is an expected 1-1. Their victory came from an opening night home opener against NAIA institution Blue Mountain Christian in which AAMU won 80-60. Their second contest, against the Indiana Hoosiers, did not go as well – losing 98-51 on November 5th.
Through the first two radically different contests of their season, the Bulldogs have a pair of 18.0 point per game scorers – James Graham III and Peyton Daniels Sr.
One Bulldog received All-SWAC Preseason honors, Kintavious Dozier was named to the league’s Preseason First-Team after averaging 12.4 points and posting 44/34/80 shooting splits last season with Coach Jackson at Grambling State.
The most intriguing member of this year’s AAMU roster as it pertains to Charleston Southern is former Buccaneer and now-Bulldog, Lou Hutchinson. Hutchinson began his career at Rhode Island before joining the Bucs for the 2023-24 season. During his lone year in the Lowcountry, he was in the starting line-up for six of the eight games he appeared in – including an 11-point showing against the ACC’s NC State. This season, Hutchinson is currently the Bulldogs’ fourth leading scorer at 9.0 points a night. AAMU is Hutchinson’s fourth college program in four years.
If a height comparison was done between the two rosters, the Bulldogs would have the advantage. Although AAMU’s average height is only about half an inch more, they have nine players that are 6’7″ or taller compared to CSU’s five.
Charleston Southern and Alabama A&M have never met on the basketball court, so Thursday’s contest will begin the series history.
Game #5
Opponent: vs Lindenwood
Date: November 14th
Time: 6:30 PM Eastern
TV: SWAC TV
Picked 5th in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Preseason Poll, Lindenwood has a revolving door of guards who have proven to be able to put the basketball in the hoop at a solid level through the Lions’ first three games of the 2025-26 season.
Six Lindenwood players currently average double-digits in the scoring column, and of those six, four are guards – Jadis Jones (16.0), Anias Futrell (13.0), Dontrez Williams (13.0), and Clayton Jackson (10.7).
Through their first three games of the season, the Lions are 1-2. Their victory came from a November 6th square off with an NAIA opponent. Their losses were against #10 ranked Texas Tech on November 4th and Saint Louis on Monday, November 10th.
Jadis Jones, the overall leading scorer on average for the Lions, has shot a whopping 13-14 from the field this season (93%). A 6’5″, 215-pounder playing college ball in his home state of Missouri, Jones shot 8-9 in Lindenwood’s 43-point loss Monday night against the St. Louis Billikens.
Of Lindenwood’s two OVC Preseason Players to Watch list, Anias Futrell is the part of the honored pairing that has proven the voters right so far this season. Futrell is currently averaging 13 points and 3.5 boards per night to go with a 39% clip from three-point range.
The Lindenwood five-man is a Canadian, 6’10” center named Milos Nenadic. Nenadic currently averages 13 points and 7 boards per night.
The Lions are led by Head Coach Kyle Gerdeman. Gerdeman has been at the helm of the Lion program for seven years now. Last season, year six, was his best finish to date – posting a 10-10 OVC record.
Similar to Alabama A&M, Lindenwood and Charleston Southern have never played each other on the basketball court.
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