Opening the 2025-26 season at home inside PEC Arena on Monday, Nov. 3, the College of DuPage men's basketball program never trailed in a 76-51 victory against the Olivet Nazarene University JV Tigers. 

JJ Hernandez scored the first point of the year at the free throw line before Amari Ford notched the first bucket and three-pointer for the Chaps. Early defensive stops led to offensive momentum, and DuPage started to pull away early,

"I thought our intensity, especially the first half was outstanding defensively," said head coach Joe Kuhn. "And then offensively, I liked how we attacked and just continually created shots for other guys. I thought we played very unselfish offensively, and it just created a lot of clean looks."

At the half, COD led 40-22.

In the second half, the Tigers started to knock down their own shots including a handful of buckets from beyond the arc, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.

At the conclusion of forty minutes, the Chaps nearly shot at a rate of 50% from the floor, nailing 48.5% of their attempts. Five players combined for eight three-pointers made, led by Adyn McGinley's three successful tries. 

McGinley only missed one shot on eight attempts all night to end with a game-high 17 points, while DuPage got 15 each from Ford and Vuk Zogovic. Hernandez ended his night in double-digit scoring with ten.

Defensively, it was more McGinley, who paced the Chaps with eight rebounds and six steals. Hernandez had three more steals with five other players logging at least one more. COD forced 21 turnovers in total and added 26 points off of the Tigers' miscues.

DuPage (1-0) begins Region 4 play on Thursday, Nov. 6 at Elgin Community College at 7 p.m., after the conclusion of the women's contest. Last year, the Chaps narrowly outlasted the Spartans, 88-87