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Southeastern (6-14, 4-11 GAC) at SWOSU (13-8, 10-5 GAC) Saturday, February 15, 4:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes

Setting the Stage
      Only two home games remain for the SWOSU men's basketball team, who will host Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center. The Bulldogs defeated East Central on Thursday to move within one-half game of the top spot in the conference standings, a position currently held by Arkansas Tech.
      Southeastern has currently lost two straight games and they are 4-11 in conference play, tied with Ouachita Baptist for the bottom spot in the conference. SWOSU needed a last-second bucket by Gary Inglett to defeat the Savage Storm 72-70 back on January 9, a loss that was part of a 10-game losing streak by Southeastern.
 
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 422-304.
      Kelly Green took over the reins for the Southeastern Oklahoma State basketball program during the spring of 2011 and he is in his third season leading the Savage Storm after 14 seasons at Arizona Western Community College. Green has a record of 33-43 with Southeastern.
 
Last Time Out
      Rod Camphor scored 27 points and set a new school record with 6-for-6 shooting from 3-point range as he helped the SWOSU men's basketball team defeat Great American Conference leader East Central 80-65 on Thursday night at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
      Camphor's set a new record for proficiency beyond the arc, making all six of his attempts and breaking the previous record of 5-for-5 shooting from long range, set by Semaj Johnson, who was 5-for-5 from three against Northeastern State in 2003.
      With the Bulldogs trailing 54-53 with 9:47 to play, Kenyan Borders and Camphor hit back-to-back threes to jumpstart a 17-1 run that lasted nearly five and a half minutes and swung control squarely to the Bulldogs. Camphor capped the run with two free throws and his sixth triple of the night, giving SWOSU a 15-point margin with 4:20 to play.
      Gary Inglett had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs in 37 minutes of action while Trent Washington had 13 points off the bench. Borders finished with 12 points and two assists and Michael Bradley scored nine points and was a defensive presence all night, rejecting a career-high six ECU shots and altering multiple others.
      SWOSU connected on 24-of-47 (51.1%) field goals, marking just the third time this season the Bulldogs hit more than 50% of their attempts and the such occurrence in conference play. The Dawgs also hit 12-of-22 (54.5%) 3-pointers while holding East Central to just 5-of-16 shooting from long range. Despite being outrebounded 34-30, SWOSU was still dominant in the paint with nine blocked shots, compared to zero for the Tigers.
 
Last Time vs. Southeastern (January 9, 2014)
      A bucket from Gary Inglett with 1.6 seconds remaining helped SWOSU pick up their third straight GAC road victory as the Bulldogs defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State 72-70 at Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
      The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 10 in the first half and they went to the halftime break behind 36-28 as Southeastern knocked down 6-of-12 three pointers in the opening half. Southeastern's lead was seven, 48-41, with 14:00 minutes to play when Trent Washington and Inglett combined to hit five straight threes in a 15-0 run that spanned just over three minutes of play.
      That lead held up for SWOSU until the 2:07 mark when Southeastern tied the game at 68-68 on a triple from Quinton Threadgill, but Inglett put SWOSU back on top with a layup at the 1:42 mark. Following a SWOSU turnover, Rod Camphor fouled Darius Harris on a breakaway, forcing Harris to make two free throws to tie the game at 70-70 with 13 seconds remaining.
      Kenyan Borders penetrated and found Inglett on the final possession and the junior from Ardmore laid the ball in with 1.6 seconds to play to put SWOSU on top 72-70. A final heave from Southeastern was off course, allowing the Bulldogs to earn their seventh victory in the last nine games.
      Washington scored a season-best 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, which included six three-pointers. Inglett turned in another double-double, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Camphor scored 13 points to extend his streak of double figures scoring efforts.
 
Checking the Standings
      Defeating East Central on Thursday was crucial for the Bulldogs as they attempt to get back into the conference championship race. SWOSU is still in third place, trailing ECU by one game in the win column and Arkansas Tech by one game on the loss side, but within percentage points of both teams. ATU is 10-4 and atop the standings, with ECU right behind at 11-5 and SWOSU closing in at 10-5. Southeastern is tied with Ouachita Baptist in the conference cellar at 4-11 in GAC play.
 
Scouting the Opponent
      After starting the season 4-0 and with consecutive conference wins, Southeastern has fallen on hard times. The Savage Storm have dropped 14 of their last 16 games, including a 10-game losing skid which included a 72-70 loss to SWOSU in Durant on January 9. Southeastern has back-to-back games after a 74-62 win over Arkansas-Monticello.
      The Savage Storm are one of the lowest scoring teams in the conference, averaging 66.7 points per game, but their defense is holding opponents to 69.9 points per contest to rank fifth among GAC teams. Two of the biggest downfalls for Southeastern have been free throw shooting and turnovers. SOSU is shooting just 63.5% from the free throw line, ranking 10th in the conference but they've turned the ball over more than anybody in the conference, averaging 15.8 turnovers per game.
      Urald King is pacing the Savage Storm offense by scoring 15.9 points per game and he's the conference's top rebounder with an average of 9.3 boards per game. Taylor Smaller is averaging 11.8 points per game and John Balwigaire is chipping in 10.2 points per contest to lead the SOSU offense.
 
Quick Hits
- Michael Bradley tied a single-game school record with six blocked shots against East Central on Thursday. He tied the mark previously set by Thomas Davis against Arkansas Tech two seasons ago
- The Bulldogs lead NCAA Division II with 192 turnovers committed this season, an average of 9.2 per game, which ranks third in the country
- Rod Camphor is the fourth-leading scorer in the GAC at 17.5 points per game. He tied a season high with 27 points against East Central on Thursday after being held to just nine points the first time the teams met
- With 93 blocked shots on the season, the Bulldogs lead the conference by averaging 4.4 blocks per game
 
Looking Ahead
     The Bulldogs make their final trip to Arkansas next weekend, visiting Henderson State on Thursday and Ouachita Baptist on Saturday.