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SWOSU (10-6, 4-5 GAC) at Northwestern Oklahoma State (4-12, 3-6 GAC) Thursday, January 22, 7:30 pm Alva, Okla. (Percefull Fieldhouse) Live Stats  |  Listen Live  |  Watch Live SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- Rivalry action takes the SWOSU Basketball team north to Alva on Thursday night to tangle with the Rangers of Northwestern Oklahoma State
- SWOSU will be looking for their first victory over NWOSU in Alva since the Rangers joined the Great American Conference prior to the 2012-13 season
- The Bulldogs, who are 15-5 on the road the past two seasons, will be looking to snap a streak of five consecutive games in Alva without a victory
- SWOSU is also searching for revenge after two close defeats to NWOSU last season while coach Bob Battisti looks for his first victory over his former employer, where he was the head coach for 21 seasons
 
The Opponent
Northwestern Oklahoma State (4-12, 3-6 GAC)
- Entering Thursday's game 4-12 overall but 3-6 in conference play with two victories in their past three games
- Just 2-4 on their home court, with victories over Southern Nazarene and Henderson State, which was their last home game on January 10
- The lowest scoring team in the GAC, averaging 65.2 points per game and trailing the Bulldogs who average 68.1 points per game
- Allowing opponents to score an average of 76.9 points per contest for a scoring margin of -11.8, the worst in the GAC
- Four players scoring in double figures, led by T'aries Taylor at 12.9 ppg and Adrian Motley at 11.0 ppg
- Other top scorers include Darrian Dempsey (10.3 ppg) and Laakeem Henderson (10.2) with no other players averaging more than 8.0 ppg
- Freshman Brandon Green leads the GAC with a 2.5 assist/turnover ratio after dishing out 50 assists against 20 turnovers to date
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (27-16, 2nd season; 436-312 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
- 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
- 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 436-312 (.583)
 
Andrew Brown (114-105, 8th season)
- In his eighth season with the Rangers after taking over for SWOSU Coach Bob Battisti prior to the start of the 2007-08 season
- Has guided NWOSU to an NAIA National Tournament appearance and a GAC title in their transitional season of 2012-13
- Third on the all-time wins list at Northwestern with 114
- Was a full-time assistant at NWOSU for three seasons before being promoted to head coach and spent four seasons as a student assistant for the Rangers in the late 1990's
- Also served as an assistant coach at USAO and Otero Junior College
 
Last Time Out
- After being held scoreless the final 4:11 of regulation, SWOSU regrouped and outscored Arkansas-Monticello 11-4 in overtime to earn a 70-63 GAC road victory
- SWOSU built a lead as high as 11 multiple times, including at 59-48 with 4:11 to play in the game before UAM scored the final 11 points of regulation to force overtime
- Kenyan Borders scored five straight points to put SWOSU up 65-61 with 2:53 in overtime before Emeche Wells and Trent Washington salted the game away at the free throw line
- Martell Collins went for another double-double, finishing with 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in 41 minutes of action
- Washington added 12 points and Borders 10 while both logging 37 minutes of play
 
Checking the Standings
- Consecutive road wins have elevated the Bulldogs to 4-5 in league play and into a four-way tie at fifth in the Great American Conference standings
- Just four teams currently have a GAC record above .500 with SWOSU remaining just one game out of fourth place in the standings
- Northwestern Oklahoma State sits 10th in the league currently at 3-6, one-half game behind Southern Nazarene for ninth and one game back of the logjam at fifth place
- Ouachita Baptist and Southern Arkansas are tied atop the standings at 7-2 with East Central one game behind and Harding two games back
 
SWOSU Notes
- The stellar season by SWOSU's Martell Collins continued with a fourth straight and ninth overall double-double as he scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds against UAM
- Collins now ranks third in the GAC in scoring (17.9 ppg) and leads the league in rebounding (9.6 rpg) as he nearly averages a double-double for the year
- Collins has reached double figures in scoring 14 times in 16 games this season, including in each of the past nine games
- Trent Washington has scored 12 points in each of the past two games, upping his average to 11.3 points per game on the year, second-best on the team
- Washington and Emeche Wells both lead SWOSU with 24 steals (1.5/game) and rank in the top ten in the GAC in the category
- After scoring 10 point on 3-of-9 shooting against UAM, Kenyan Borders has now reached double figures in scoring 11 times this season for an average of 10.9 ppg on the year
- Ayo Ojo is shooting a team-best 53.5% (38-71) from the field and he has grabbed eight rebounds in each of the past three games, giving him 86 (5.4/game) for the year
- Richard McCalop has averaged 12.0 points per game over the past three contests, raising his season average to 5.6 ppg off the bench
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU concludes a four-game road trip next Thursday when they head to Bethany to face Southern Nazarene
- The Bulldogs will play seven of their final nine games at home to end the season