Freshman forward Freddy Hassan navigates through the paint during the Chiefs’ 106–79 win over Kishwaukee College. Hassan finished the game with a team high 18 points and 10 rebounds.

By: Johnny Crouch, Sports & Activities Executive | Photos by: Jacob Pacheco, Photography Executive

Waubonsee men’s basketball continued its blistering offensive pace on Monday night, Dec. 9, rolling past the Kishwaukee College Kougars 106–79 at Erickson Hall in a performance defined by tempo and depth. The win moves the Chiefs to 8–2 on the season and marks the fifth time in their first ten games they have broken the 100-point mark.

Entering the night ranked second nationally in NJCAA Division II scoring at 102.1 points per game, Waubonsee wasted no time setting the tone. The Chiefs opened the game by knocking down threes, pushing the pace and controlling the boards. Sophomore guard Ehi Ogbomo drilled an early three before exiting with a shoulder injury, shifting the rotation but hardly slowing Waubonsee’s rhythm.

In place of Ogbomo, sophomore guard Kamea “KC” Chandler came out firing off the bench, hitting three triples early in the first half. Sophomore guard James Parker stabilized the offense with a pair of mid-range buckets, while freshman forward Freddy Hassan owned the paint, drawing repeated fouls, running the floor and finishing through contact.

By the eight-minute mark, Kishwaukee was struggling to handle Waubonsee’s pressure, and the mistakes piled up quickly. The Chiefs took advantage, turning offensive rebounds into easy baskets and drawing fouls in the paint. When sophomore guard JJ Strojinc knocked down a step-back three from the corner to make it 44–22,  the outcome started to feel inevitable.

Kishwaukee couldn’t keep up with Waubonsee’s speed and physicality, committing 13 fouls in the first half while shooting just 22.9 percent from the field. Waubonsee, meanwhile, continued its strong perimeter shooting, knocking down threes throughout the opening period.

Despite their quiet first half, the Kougars came out with energy after the break, hitting seven threes in the first five minutes to briefly cut the deficit to 20. But every time Kishwaukee threatened, Waubonsee answered.

Chandler responded with another three. Strojinc added two more. Hassan hammered home an emphatic dunk, then followed it with a put-back on the next possession to reach 18 points on the night. The Chiefs amassed a 94-55 lead with just over seven minutes remaining before the team’s reserves checked in.

Even in a dominant win, head coach Lance Robinson pointed to the final minutes as an area the Chiefs still need to tighten.

“We were up 41 with three and a half minutes to go, but we didn’t finish this game off that well,” Robinson said. “We can talk about playing a good 37-minute game, but we want to get to 40 minutes of good clean basketball.”

Kishwaukee closed on a 17–3 run against the Chiefs’ reserves, making the final score slightly closer, but Waubonsee’s control was never in question.

The Chiefs shot 53.3 percent from three (16-for-30), outrebounded Kishwaukee 48–31 and went 28-for-35 at the free-throw line. Hassan finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, all while shooting a perfect 10-for-10 at the line.

Hassan has wasted no time emerging as one of the most productive freshmen in NJCAA Region IV. When asked how he has adapted so quickly, he pointed simply to commitment.

“I would say just the work I put in,” Hassan said. “If I’m not playing basketball, I’m working out, training, lifting, watching film. I’m always trying to learn about it. I’m trying to be a student of the game.”

Coming off a 32–2 season and a super-sectional appearance at Kaneland, Hassan said the leadership roles he held in high school carry over now.

“Being on varsity since my sophomore year helped a lot,” he said. “Seeing the upperclassmen lead, then when it was my turn, people look to you. Lead by example first, and then lead people in the right direction.”

Robinson echoed that belief in Hassan’s ceiling.

“The best thing about Freddy is he’s getting better every day,” Robinson said. “He’s a sponge. He texts me later asking, ‘Coach, what could I have done better?’ I think he’s going to be the best player to ever put on a Waubonsee uniform.”

Even in a blowout, the Chiefs focused on what mattered most: playing with cohesion and purpose. For freshman forward Freddy Hassan, that theme kept circling back to one word — trust.

“We’ve been talking a lot about trust,” Hassan said. “I think the reason we won by a lot today was because of trust. We know we’re good players, but we need to trust each other to do our roles. That’s it.”

Robinson said that message has been emphasized since the team’s Wisconsin road trip, where Waubonsee came up short against two top-tier opponents in 15th ranked Madison College and 16th ranked Milwaukee Area Technical College.

“You guys haven’t been through the basketball wars together,” Robinson told his team earlier this season. “If you trust me, everything else is going to fall in line. You trust your teammates.”

The Chiefs returned from that road swing sharper, and with a clearer understanding of what high-level games demand.

“When we’re locked in and playing with energy, we can be dominant,” Robinson said. “And when we’re not mentally there, anything can happen. So it’s about playing to our standard, no matter who we’re playing.”

Sophomore point guard James Parker, the lone returning starter from last year’s 28-4 team, continues to anchor Waubonsee’s identity.

“He’s been awesome,” Robinson said. “He’s one of the guys who’s been through this before with us. I told him, ‘I trust you, just go out there and play.’ His best basketball is still ahead of him.”

Parker finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals, battling on the glass despite being one of the smaller players on the floor.

At 8–2, Waubonsee enters the heart of its schedule with momentum and a clear sense of who they are as a team.

“We want to keep building,” Robinson said. “Great teams win the games they’re supposed to win. And we want to keep playing to our standard.”

The Chiefs return to Erickson Hall on Dec. 22 for a marquee matchup with 13th-ranked South Suburban College, their toughest test yet.

Sophomore guard James Parker looks to pass as the Chiefs push the pace early in the first half against Kishwaukee. Parker posted 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals in route to a Waubonsee win.