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SWOSU (3-2) at Panhandle State (1-4) Saturday, November 29, 3:00 pm Goodwell, Okla. (Oscar Williams Field House) Live Stats  |  Watch Live SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- Bulldog basketball gets another chance at an in-state non-conference victory on Saturday as they hit the road to Goodwell to take on Panhandle State
- SWOSU is coming off a thrilling 70-68 victory over Central Oklahoma on Tuesday night at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center, a win that improved the Bulldogs to 3-2 on the year
- Panhandle State also played on Tuesday, falling to UC-Colorado Springs 93-82 to drop their record to 1-4 on the year
- This game will be the first meeting between the Bulldogs and the Aggies since 2010, a 67-63 victory for SWOSU in a Thanksgiving Classic played in Edmond
- SWOSU will be playing their third true road game of the regular season, with a record of 1-1 in such contests to date
 
The Opponent
Panhandle State (1-4)
- Enter the game on the heels of back-to-back defeats against Northern New Mexico and UC-Colorado Springs, dropping their record to 1-4 on the year
- Defeated Barclay College 93-81 for their lone victory of the season after going 0-2 at the Tip-Off Classic against Angelo State and Eastern New Mexico
- Led by high-scoring shooting guard Antonio Manns, Jr., who is averaging nearly 30 points per game and has scored 36 or more points twice in five games
- Averaging 85.8 points per game but opponents have been able to put up 96.5 points against the Aggies, including two 100-point performances
- Picked to finish 11th in the 11-team Heartland Conference
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (20-12, 2nd season; 429-308 career, 26th season)
- Bob Battisti was named the 14th head men's basketball coach in SWOSU history prior to last season after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Christian University
- Battisti led the Bulldogs to a 17-10 record in his first season, marking a five-win improvement from the previous season
- Three players earned All-GAC distinction in Battisti's first season at SWOSU, including GAC Player of the Year Rod Camphor and Defensive Player of the Year Michael Bradley
- SWOSU committed the fewest turnovers in NCAA Division II in Battisti's first season with 243, an average of just 9.0 per game
- Previously 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
- In 25 years as a head coach, Battisti has a career record of 429-308 (.582)
 
Panhandle State: Jerry Olson (41-155, 8th season)
- Early in his eighth season as the head coach at Panhandle State
- Had two 10-win seasons in his first three years at OPSU but has since been limited to six or fewer victories in each of the past four seasons
 
Last Time Out
- Kenyan Borders broke a 68-68 tie with a long two-point basket with just under two seconds remaining as SWOSU defeated Central Oklahoma 70-68 on Tuesday night
- SWOSU overcame a 12-point deficit in the first half and used a 7-0 lead to open the second half and take the lead
- Bulldogs trailed by five, 65-60, with five minutes remaining but outscored UCO 10-3 down the stretch
- Martell Collins scored 23 points to lead the Bulldogs while Emeche Wells had 16 and Trent Washington scored 13
- Borders finished with eight points, six assists and four rebounds
 
Checking the Standings
- While SWOSU still remains down in the standings with an 0-1 conference mark, Tuesday's victory got the Bulldogs back over .500 on the year
- SWOSU is now one of just five teams in the conference with a winning record
- Two teams - Ouachita Baptist and Southern Nazarene - have yet to suffer a defeat this season
- Three teams who have played a conference game - SNU, East Central and Harding - remain unbeaten in GAC play
- OBU, Arkansas Tech and Northwestern Oklahoma State have yet to play a GAC game
 
SWOSU Notes
- Martell Collins topped the 20-point mark for the fourth time in five games, matching his season-best with 23 points against Central Oklahoma
- Collins upped his average to 18.8 points per game, a mark that ranks him third in the Great American Conference
- Emeche Wells scored a season-best 16 points, including perfect 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range against UCO, upping his season average to 9.2 points per game
- Wells also ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.4/game) and steals (1.3/game), while leading the Bulldogs with four blocked shots.
- Trent Washington has hit a team-best 11-of-37 (29.7%) 3-pointers and he ranks as the team's second-leading scorer with an average of 12.8 points per game
- Washington is also SWOSU's team-leader in assists (14) and steals (10)
- Collins, who returned to the starting lineup against UCO, is also averaging 6.4 rebounds per game to lead the Bulldogs
- Borders rebounded from his lowest scoring game of the year with eight points, including the game-winning bucket, against Central Oklahoma
- SWOSU's starting point guard, Borders has 12 assists on the year and he's hit 14-of-17 (82.4%) free throw attempts
- The Bulldogs have scored and allowed the exact same amount of points so far this season, 322. The scoring offense total of 64.4 points per game ranks 10th in the GAC while that same total as scoring defense is the second-best mark in the conference
- SWOSU leads the GAC in three-point field goal percentage defense, with opponents hitting just 30.4% (28-of-92) shots from long range
- Collins (82.6%) and Borders (82.4%) both rank among the top five in the GAC in free throw shooting percentage
- Ayo Ojo battled foul trouble to score six points and grab six rebounds against UCO on Tuesday. Ojo has been whistled for at least three fouls in every game this season, including a foul-out against Lincoln
 
Looking Ahead
- Conference play heats up in December as the Bulldogs play three of their five games during the month against GAC foes
- The Bulldogs are on the road at East Central next Thursday for a 7:30 pm tipoff