Green Bay was just one of two teams in the Horizon League to play a non-Division I opponent to open the season, as it faced the Lawrence University Vikings at the Kress Center to start the 2026 campaign. The Phoenix men hadn’t hosted a season opening game since the 2021-22 campaign, and seized the opportunity with a resounding 94-51 win in front of the hometown fans.
- Bigger, Faster, Stronger
In these non-D1 games, the expectation is for the home team to take care of business. Every year though, it seems like a few of the smaller schools are able to pull off the upset. Many fans will remember just a few years ago when Green Bay fell victim to Michigan Tech just before Christmas. Fortunately for the Phoenix though, Marcus Tomashek wasn’t on the opposing sideline, and the guys in green and white were riding high after a win over Illinois State to wrap up exhibition play.
Simply put, Green Bay was bigger, faster, and stronger on Monday night, using a pair of 12-0 runs in the first half to open a wide deficit on Lawrence. It was efficient, and perhaps most importantly, it was a lot of repeatable, fundamental basketball that the Phoenix can certainly use on teams going forward. The team found ways to score in all facets of the game, shooting 19-of-26 from the free throw line, and scoring 30 points in the paint.
2. Defense to Offense
Keeping on that theme, Green Bay was incredibly efficient with the turnovers it forced. The Phoenix forced 11 turnovers in the first half with its starting unit, and 15 in total, leading to 27 points on those turnovers. As a team, Green Bay forced nine steals by eight different players. Stewart Erhart II was able to force two in his first game as a Division I player, a talent he honed in at Fort Lewis College, where he averaged 3.6 thefts per game last year.
The Phoenix outrebounded the Vikings 41-28, though it did allow 9 offensive rebounds, Lawrence only managed 8 second chance points. While Green Bay would assumably want to keep both numbers even lower, it is worth note that the Vikings shot 23 of its 51 shots from deep. Lawrence only managed 12 points in the paint, and the Phoenix also only limited the Vikings to just two fastbreak points, while scoring 17 on its end.
3. Its raining threes, Hallelujah!
While this line is definitely stolen from NBA Jam (shoutout Tim Kitzrow), Green Bay put on a display from behind the 3 point arc in this contest. As a team, the Phoenix shot 15-26 from deep, good for a 58% clip. With numbers like that, it is typically the result of one player getting hot, and hitting at a high clip.
In this instance however, it was a truly balanced effort by Green Bay. Seven different players made a three point shot, with each actually hitting multiple in the victory. Keegan Van Kauwenberg led the way with three makes on four attempts, while Marcus Hall, Clarence Payia, Ne’quan Brown, Christian Burnett, and Isaiah Sutherland all joined the three point party with a pair of makes.
Burnett was “just” two of five on the long balls, but this should be an encouraging sign overall. While it was against a non-D1 opponent, this may be one of the most encouraging offensive takeaways from the game. As referenced before, Green Bay was bigger, faster, and stronger, and that tends to turn into more fastbreak or paint points, as opposed to three pointers. They got the looks from within the offense with their ball movement, and found appropriate times to pull the trigger, doing so at a high enough clip that it doesn’t feel like an anomaly.
4. Fouls may become a problem
Its hard to find many negatives in a game that the winning team nearly doubles their opponent. If there was something to nitpick beyond the offensive rebounds though, it would be fouls. In the exhibition season, facing teams like Wisconsin and Marquette, those teams are going to typically draw a number of fouls against a mid-major squad, as the underdog will look to try to be aggressive, and make contact when going for steals or blocks to steal a possession. Not to mention that the Power 5 teams are usually quicker and larger, catching the mid-major player out of position in many instances.
So when a team like Green Bay finds themselves in the driver seat against a non-D1, they should be in the same position. Instead, the Phoenix out-fouled the Vikings 22-21. While only Maruan Cicic was the only player in “foul trouble” with four personal fouls, it still is less than ideal. Green Bay sent Lawrence to the line for 25 free throws, which thankfully for the Phoenix, was limited to just 15 makes.
Credit where credit is due though, this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Through the exhibition season, and into the regular season, Green Bay isn’t afraid to be physical and play defense. It just needs to be efficient in those efforts.
5. We’re on to Cincinnati
NBA Jam and Bill Belichick both make the key takeaways tonight, as Green Bay starts the season off with a win for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Thanks to a dominant win, no Phoenix player had to record over 20 minutes on the floor, as Erhart II led the team with just 18 minutes in the contest.
It will be a quick turnaround for Green Bay, as it hits the road for game against the Cincinnati Bearcats set for Thursday evening at 6pm CT from Fifth Third Arena. Both teams will come into the contest at 1-0 after the Bearcats took down American 79-53 to start its season on Monday night, with a pair of 13 point scorers leading the way in Tyler Tejada and MJ Collins.
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