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East Central (14-7, 11-4 GAC) at Southwestern Oklahoma State (12-8, 9-5 GAC) Thursday, February 13, 7:30 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio SWOSU Game Notes

Setting the Stage
      Two teams near the top of the Great American Conference standings will face off on Thursday night when the SWOSU men's basketball team hosts first-place East Central at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
      The Bulldogs defeated ECU 55-43 back on January 11 in Ada, while SWOSU was in the midst of a six-game winning streak that had them seated atop the GAC standings for most of the month of January. Since that streak was ended, the Bulldogs have lost four of their last five games and they are riding a three-game slide that has them sitting in third place in the standings, one game in the loss column behind East Central and Arkansas Tech.
      A victory over the Tigers could propel SWOSU into a tie near the top of the standings while a loss would drop the Bulldogs into a tie for fourth place. In order for that to happen, the Bulldogs will have to top a team that has won three consecutive games and six of their last seven since the teams last meeting.
 
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 421-304.
      Ja Havens is in his first year as the head coach at East Central after spending the last eight years as the assistant basketball coach at Drury University, which claimed the 2013 NCAA DII National Championship. He helped the Panthers to five Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division Championships and two tournament championships.
 
Last Time Out
      Harding outscored SWOSU 51-32 in the second half on Saturday, handing the Bulldogs their third straight defeat by a score of 89-71 at Rhodes Field House.
      Kenyan Borders scored with three seconds remaining in the first half, giving SWOSU a 39-38 advantage at the break but Harding hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half and never looked back. The Bisons connected on 10 triples in the second half – 15 for the game – and coasted, holding a double-digit advantage for the final 13 minutes of the game.
      Borders scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Bulldogs while Rod Camphor chipped in 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and Gary Inglett also reached double figures by scoring 10. Michael Bradley and Trent Washington scored nine points apiece for the Bulldogs, who shot 42.1% (24-of-57) from the field and 39.1% (9-of-23) from 3-point range.
 
Last Time vs. East Central (January 11, 2014)
      Most teams won't win a conference road game when hitting just four second-half field goals and shooting 24.1% for the game. The SWOSU men's basketball team isn't most teams.
      The Bulldogs earned their third straight victory and improved to 6-0 on the road by grinding out a 55-43 win against East Central on Saturday afternoon in Ada. The win improves SWOSU to 8-4 on the year and 5-1 in Great American Conference play and keeps the Bulldogs atop the GAC standings as the only team with one conference loss.
      Trent Washington scored nine straight points in the second half – after the Bulldogs missed their first 10 attempts of the half – to give SWOSU a 35-27 lead with 12:32 to play. Good time management and superb free throw shooting (20-of-27 in the second half, 23-of-33 for the game) helped the Bulldogs thwart any rally posed by the Tigers, despite connecting on just 4-of-26 (15.4%) field goals in the second half.
      For the game, Coach Bob Battisti's squad hit just 13-of-54 (24.1%) field goals and 6-of-23 (26.1%) three pointers while also being outrebounded by East Central 44-to-37. Washington finished with 15 points and Kenyan Borders added 11 in the winning effort.
 
Checking the Standings
      The Bulldogs can do themselves a huge favor on Thursday as they attempt to get back into contention for a Great American Conference regular season championship. SWOSU's opponent is East Central, the conference leader with an 11-4 conference mark to date. The Tigers and Arkansas Tech are the only teams with four conference losses while SWOSU sits in third place with a 9-5 record after three consecutive defeats. The Bulldogs cannot afford any more defeats with Harding and Southern Nazarene each sitting one game behind and tied for fourth place with matching 8-6 GAC records.
 
Scouting the Opponent
      After winning just eight games last season and being picked 10th in the GAC Preseason Coaches Poll, East Central has significantly exceeded expectations under first-year head coach Ja Havens. Havens has the Tigers in first place in the conference and riding a three-game winning streak thanks in large part to their defense, which ranks second in the GAC by allowing just 68.2 points per game. ECU is also holding opponents to 40.9% field goal shooting, a mark which is also second-best in the conference.
      At the offensive end, East Central is scoring 73.5 points per game and shooting 45.1% from the field, but they share the ball better than most teams, ranking second in the GAC with an average of 13.9 assists per game. Colby Carr is the leading scorer for ECU, averaging 14.8 points per game while Brandon Lucas (12.8) and A.J. Moutry (10.7) are also scoring in double figures. Henry Pwuno is the leading rebounder for ECU, averaging 5.6 boards per game while and he is tied with Aly Hudgins for the team lead with 11 blocked shots.         
 
Quick Hits
- SWOSU's starting lineup of Kenyan Borders, Trent Washington, Rod Camphor, Gary Inglett and Michael Bradley is combining to score 62.2 points per game, which accounts for 88.6% of the Bulldogs total scoring on the season.
- The Bulldogs lead NCAA Division II with 183 turnovers committed this season, an average of 9.2 per game, which ranks third in the country
- Kenyan Borders led SWOSU with a career-high 19 points against Harding. It was the second time in the past four games and the third time this season Borders was the Bulldogs high scorer
- SWOSU has allowed 80 or more points just four times this season, but in both games on last week's road trip. The most points the Bulldogs have surrendered in a game is 89, given up against Harding both times the two teams have met
- Rod Camphor was held to nine points the last time SWOSU played East Central, the only time this season he has not reached double figures in scoring
- With 84 blocked shots on the season, the Bulldogs lead the conference by averaging 4.2 blocks per game
- Gary Inglett ranks 10th in the GAC in scoring (14.9 points per game), third in rebounding (8.0 rebounds per game) and sixth in steals (1.5 steals per game)
- SWOSU is the third-leading free throw shooting in the GAC, connecting on 369-of-516 (71.5%) free throw attempts on the season
 
Looking Ahead
      SWOSU will go for the season sweep of Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday when the Bulldogs welcome the Savage Storm to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.