West Burlington, IA-The Blackhawks of Southeastern Community College open up the 2018-19 campaign tonight in Loren Walker Arena against Illinois foe, Carl Sandburg College.

Southeastern features a team that will have 13 new faces, with DeAndre Barton and Alier Riak being the only returners.  Some of these new faces include 3 Division 1 transfers in Jaquan Lightfoot (UTEP), Tyler Maye (VCU) and Marquis Collins (Delaware State).  Coach Watkins expects the sophomore additions along with Barton and Riak to be key contributors to the team this season and allow the Blackhawks to play the style of basketball Watkins wants.  "We believe we have a lot of depth this year and this will allow us to play faster and be a more physical team.  I also really like the leadership Barton and Riak have brought to our team and have shown the new faces how we expect to do things," Watkins said.

Carl Sandburg comes into Loren Walker Arena after 23-9 record and winning the Arrowhead Conference Championship in 2018.  The Chargers lose their top two scorers from last year, but return sophomore forward Deandrey Robinson who averaged 10.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg in 2017-18.  Like the Blackhawks, the Chargers have a fairly new roster with only 5 sophomores and 8 new freshman.

Make sure to make your way to Loren Walker arena tonight as the Blackhawks open game 1 of their season with The Broadway Classic against Carl Sandburg at 7:00pm.  The Blackhawks will play game 2 on Saturday at 5:00pm against Kirkwood Community College who is currently ranked #5 in NJCAA Division 2.  If you would like to watch some other great junior college hoops, Kirkwood will face off against Illinois Central tonight at 5:00pm and Carl Sandburg will face Illinois Central tomorrow at 3:00pm, with both games taking place in Loren Walker Arena.

As always, all Blackhawks Men's Basketball games will be streamed online and tickets can also be bought at the SCC box office inside of Loren Walker Arena!

http://www.sccblackhawks.com/blueframe