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SWOSU (4-2, 0-1 GAC) at East Central (5-2, 2-0 GAC) Thursday, December 4, 7:30 pm Ada, Okla. (Kerr Activities Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- SWOSU Basketball takes their first two-game winning streak of the season on the road to Ada on Thursday to face East Central in Great American Conference action
- The Bulldogs, now 4-2 on the year, lost their only previous conference game, a 64-52 setback at Harding in November
- SWOSU is coming off their largest margin of victory this season following an 86-62 win at Panhandle State on Saturday
- ECU enters the game atop the conference standings at 2-0 and they are 5-2 overall on the year
- The Bulldogs are now 2-1 in true road games this season but they are 0-1 in conference road games
 
The Opponent
East Central (5-2, 2-0 GAC)
- Also entering the game as winners of two straight games after defeating Missouri Western and Cameron last weekend at the Drury Thanksgiving Classic
- Only played one game on their home court, suffering an 84-70 defeat to Rogers State back on November 25
- Unblemished in GAC action with road wins at Arkansas-Monticello (84-71) and Henderson State (88-75)
- Ranked second in the GAC in scoring, averaing 80.1 points per game, but they've also allowed 78.1 points per game to opponents to rank 10th in scoring defense
- Guard Stirling Thomas ranks as the GAC's top scoring threat, averaging 24.7 points per game while Henry Pwono is sixth at 18.0 points per contest. Both Pwono and Thomas have already earned the GAC Player of the Week award once this season
- One of the top shooting teams in the GAC, currently ranked second in field goal percentage (50.5%) and free throw percentage (72.5%)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (21-12, 2nd season; 430-308 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)
 
East Central: Ja Havens (20-14, 2nd season)
- Became the sixth head coach in East Central men's basketball history in April 2013 after eight seasons as an assistant coach at Drury
- Led ECU to a 15-12 mark and the program's first winning season since 2007-08 in his first year, a win improvement of seven games from the 2012-13
 
Last Time Out
- Trent Washington scored a game-high 19 points and Martell Collins notched a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulldogs defeated Panhandle State 86-62
- SWOSU outscored the Aggies 13-1 to start the game but OPSU responded and tied the game at 26-26 with five minutes to play in the opening half
- The Bulldogs closed the first half on a 13-4 run, taking a 39-30 lead at the break and they would not look back
- Five players reached double figures in scoring with Kenyan Borders and Ayo Ojo putting in 12 apiece while Richard McCalop chipped in a season-high 11 and four rebounds
- Best shooting performance of the season by SWOSU as they hit better than 50% from the field (31-of-57) and three-point range (11-of-21)
 
Checking the Standings
- Conference play kicks into high gear this week with every team playing at least one GAC game over the weekend
- Six teams, including SWOSU, remain winless in GAC play but three teams have yet to play a conference game
- SWOSU is the lone 0-1 team while Arkansas-Monticello and Southeastern are both 0-2
- ECU is tied with Southern Nazarene atop the standings at 2-0 with Harding right behind at 1-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU's 86 points against Panhandle State was a season high and upped their scoring average to 68.0 points per game, ranking ninth in the GAC
- The Bulldogs remain the best scoring defense in the conference by holding opponents to 64.0 points per game
- Trent Washington led SWOSU in scoring at Panhandle State for the second time this season with 19 points. Washington currently ranks second on the team with an average of 13.8 points per game
- Martell Collins recorded his second double-double of the season on Saturday at OPSU with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He continutes to lead SWOSU in both categories with season averages of 18.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest
- In addition to scoring, SWOSU set team season highs for shooting percentage (54.4), 3-point shooting (52.4%)  and free throw percentage (92.9%) at Panhandle State
- SWOSU ranks fourth in the GAC in free throw percentage at 72.1% (88-of-122) with four players (Kenyan Borders, Collins, Washington, Ayo Ojo) hitting at better than 80.0% from the stripe
- Ojo scored a season-best 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting at Panhandle State, giving him three double-figure scoring performances in the past four games
- Emeche Wells is the ultimate stat stuffer for SWOSU, ranking fourth on the team in scoring (8.3/game), second in rebounding (4.7/game) and steals (1.3/game) while leading the team with four blocked shots
- Washington leads SWOSU with 10 steals while Borders has 11 assists the past two games and now leads the team with 17 for the year
 
Looking Ahead
- Despite a bye on the conference schedule, SWOSU is back in action on Saturday as they host Hillsdale Baptist at 3:00 pm in a game originally slated for a 7:00 pm tipoff