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Southern Arkansas (9-8, 5-6 GAC) at SWOSU (11-5, 8-2 GAC) Thursday, January 30, 7:30 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio Social Media: @SWOSUAthletics on Twitter or Tweet #BulldogPride SWOSU Game Notes

Setting the Stage
      The first-place SWOSU men's basketball team will be in search of their first victory at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center on Thursday evening when the Bulldogs welcome Southern Arkansas to town. SWOSU will also be looking to earn a season sweep of the Muleriders after downing SAU 76-68 in Magnolia back in November.
      For the first time since earlier this month, the Bulldogs will be rebounding from a defeat as they were handed a last-second loss by Northwestern after rolling off six straight victories that propelled them to the top of the conference standings. Southern Arkansas is one of two teams in the GAC currently on a multiple-game winning streak after earning three straight victories to push their record back over .500.
 
The Coaches
      Bob Battisti is the 14th head men's basketball coach in SWOSU history and in his first season on the Bulldogs sidelines. He most recently spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Christian University where he helped the program its first postseason basketball title in 30 years. Prior to his stint at OCU, Battisti spent 25 years at Northwestern Oklahoma State, coaching the men's basketball team for 21 seasons before taking over as the school's athletic director for four years. In more than 24 years as a head coach, Battisti has a career record of 420-301.
      Andy Sharpe is in his second season as the head men's basketball coach at Southern Arkansas, where he holds a record of 19-25 to date. Prior to his appointment at SAU, Sharpe served five years as head coach at NAIA-affiliated Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tenn., where he turned the program into a national title contender by making three trips to the NAIA National Tournament.
 
Last Time Out
      Michael Bradley hit two free throws with just over nine seconds remaining, giving SWOSU a 66-65 lead, but Northwestern Oklahoma State's T'aries Taylor hit a runner at the buzzer, ending the Bulldogs six-game win streak and handing SWOSU a 67-66 defeat in their first game inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
      The Bulldogs fell behind by 10 at 40-30 early in the second half, but slowly chipped away at the Rangers lead until Trent Washington hit a deep 3-pointer while being fouled. His free throw gave SWOSU a 61-59 lead with 3:54 to play but back-to-back empty possessions allowed Northwestern to regain a lead of 63-61 on a tip-in by Eze Akwari at the 1:48 mark.
      Rod Camphor put SWOSU on top 64-63 with a jumper with 31 seconds remaining, the first of four lead changes in the final minute of the game. Bruce Wright scored for NWOSU with 22 seconds to play before Bradley was fouled and hit two clutch free throws that the Bulldogs hoped would be the difference. Taylor had other plans, fading to the right wing and hitting a runner that went through the basket as time expired.
      Camphor led the Bulldogs with 18 points after hitting 7-of-20 field goal attempts while Washington hit four big 3-pointers and scored 17 points. Bradley added 12 points and eight rebounds and Gary Inglett put in 10 points and eight rebounds.
      SWOSU won the rebounding battle, grabbing 43 rebounds compared to 39 for Northwestern, and blocked a season-high 10 shots in the game. The Bulldogs, however, shot just 35.6% (21-of-59) from the field and missed 10 free throws in what boiled down to a one-possession game.
 
Last Time vs. Southern Arkansas (November 23, 2013)
      SWOSU's starting lineup combined to score 69 points against Southern Arkansas, leading the Bulldogs to a 76-68 victory on Saturday evening in Magnolia, the team's third straight win after opening the season 0-2.
      After taking a 37-29 lead to the break and opening the lead up at 10 early in the second half, SWOSU was outscored 12-2 over a stretch of nearly five minutes, allowing SAU to tie the game at 41-41. The Bulldogs relinquished the lead twice in the half before Bret Atkins knocked down a three to put SWOSU up 50-49 with 10:51 to play.
      Rod Camphor scored the next five points for SWOSU, pushing the lead to six at 57-51 with just over seven minutes to play. The Bulldogs would not allow SAU to get any closer than within three the rest of the way.
      The starting lineup of Kenyan Borders, Rod Camphor, Trent Washington, Gary Inglett and Michael Bradley keyed the win for SWOSU. All five players tallied 28 minutes or more with each scoring at least eight points. Inglett scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Camphor had 18 points and eight boards. Washington scored 14 points and Bradley had 10 while Borders scored eight with four steals.
 
Checking the Standings
      Saturday's defeat ended a six-game SWOSU winning streak, but the Bulldogs still sit atop the Great American Conference standings heading into the weekend. SWOSU is 11-5 (8-2 GAC) on the year, one-half game ahead of East Central for the conference lead and two games ahead of every other team in the conference. Southern Arkansas comes into the game winners of three consecutive games, moving them to seventh place in the standings at 5-6.
 
Scouting the Opponent
      A big victory over Champion Baptist has Southern Arkansas riding their first three-game winning streak of the season as they come to Weatherford. The Muleriders needed overtime to defeat Arkansas-Monticello and Ouachita Baptist last weekend and improve to 5-6 in conference play, leaving them along in the standings at seventh place.
      Following a 118-point performance on Tuesday, the Muleriders are now the highest scoring team in the GAC as they score an average of 80.4 points per game. SAU has topped the 100-point mark three times this season and they scored 99 in an overtime win over Arkansas-Monticello last Thursday.
      The Muleriders have a balanced offensive attack with five players averaging more than 9.0 points per game. Chauncy Williams is averaging 15.2 points per game since joining the lineup at the semester break while Jeffrey Walker and Alre'k Brown, the reigning GAC Player of the Week, are both scoring at a 14.4 points per game clip. SAU is allowing their opponents to score 73.8 points per game, ranking them eighth in the GAC in scoring defense.
 
Quick Hits
- Trent Washington has scored 15 or more points since coming off the bench in five of the last seven games
- The Bulldogs have committed 151 turnovers this season, the second-fewest in NCAA Division II behind Lewis University (146)
- SWOSU has turned the ball over 10 times or less in eight of their nine games played since Christmas
- Rod Camphor has grabbed five or more rebounds in six of the last seven games
- Bret Atkins hit a 3-pointer against Northwestern, his first made basket since SWOSU played at Southern Arkansas on November 23
- SWOSU will be looking to sweep the season series against Southern Arkansas for the second time in three seasons (2011-12)
- Ante Bozic grabbed a season-high four rebounds in just six minutes of action against Northwestern
- SWOSU leads the GAC in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 31.8% (109-of-343) shooting from downtown
- Four players blocked a shot as SWOSU sent back a season-best 10 attempts by Northwestern on Saturday. The Bulldogs did not record a blocked shot the first time they played Southern Arkansas, one of two times (at West Texas A&M, 11/29) they've been held without a block this season
 
Looking Ahead
     The three-game homestand for SWOSU wraps up on Saturday when the Bulldogs look to finish off a season-sweep over Arkansas-Monticello. Next weekend, the Bulldogs are on the road to face Arkansas Tech and Harding, starting a span where they will play five of their final eight games away from home.