QU men’s basketball team to face tough road tests while launching Hawkins’ second stint as coach

QUINCY — Ideally, Quincy University men’s basketball coach Steve Hawkins wouldn’t want to launch his second stint with the Hawks by playing four of the first five games on the road.

“I wish there was a way to start our tenure here at home,” the veteran skipper said.

This schedule doesn’t accommodate such a wish.

Released Tuesday, the Hawks’ schedule opens with the now traditional GMAC/GLVC Challenge on Nov. 11-12 and features a trip to Pittsburg, Kan., the following weekend for the Pitt State Thanksgiving Classic. In between, Hawkins and his crew will make their home debut against Hannibal-LaGrange on November 16 at Pepsi Arena.

“On one hand, it’s a tough way to get our feet wet,” said Hawkins, hired in March to reinvigorate a program he once led to three NCAA Tournaments during a nine-season span in charge from 1991-2000. “On the other, I think it will help us get battle tested for getting ready for that first weekend of (Great Lakes Valley Conference) play.”

The Hawks play two of their four pre-Christmas GLVC games on the road, too.

“The road can be a place where a couple of things can happen,” said Hawkins, whose team opens GLVC play November 26 at home against Indianapolis. “If it doesn’t break you and you can stay away from injuries early on, it can really help you bond. The time together in the hotel and on the bus and stuff like that can help you bond.

“You’re hoping you can pick up some wins while you’re out there to help build what we need to build. The ultimate prize is being ready for the GLVC.”

Those early tests should do that.

Quincy travels to Cedarville, Ohio, for the GMAC/GLVC Challenge and will face Findlay and Cedarville. Since the season-opening cross-conference challenge started in 2013-14, the Hawks have gone 5-11, but they’ve split the last three by beating Cedarville and losing to Findlay each time.

Cedarville went 19-13 and Findlay finished 19-11 last winter with both teams earning bids to the NCAA Midwest Regional.

At the Pitt State Thanksgiving Classic, Quincy will face Missouri Southern and Pitt State, teams that went a combined 22-35 last season. Both programs have new head coaches as Jeff Boschee left Missouri Southern for the job at Pitt State. Sam McMahon is the Lions’ new coach.

The Hawks also will face Grand Valley State in a mid-week non-conference game in December and are bringing in East-West University and Lake Superior State for the Hansen-Spear Funeral Home Classic on Dec. 17-18.

Lake Superior State went 16-11, while Grand Valley State went 17-11 and hired one of Hawkins’ former assistant coaches at Western Michigan — Cornell Mann — as its new head coach in April.

“A long-time friend of mine and one of my best friends,” Hawkins said.

The non-conference slate is designed to mimic as best it can the rough-and-tumble schedule inside the GLVC.

“These are quality opponents,” Hawkins said. “They will give us a good representation of what we will see in conference play.”