---

SWOSU (10-7, 4-6 GAC) at Southern Nazarene (8-9, 4-7 GAC) Thursday, January 29, 7:30 pm Bethany, Okla. (Sawyer Center) Live Stats  |  Listen Live  |  Watch Live ($) SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- SWOSU Basketball has made the turn to the home stretch for the Great American Conference season and they begin the second half on Thursday at Southern Nazarene
- The Bulldogs are looking to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Crimson Storm after suffering a 74-65 defeat against SNU at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center in December
- SWOSU defeated the Crimson Storm at the Sawyer Center in each of the past two seasons, including an 83-77 victory on January 23 of last season
- Following the game, SWOSU concludes the regular season with seven of their final nine games on their home court
- Southern Nazarene is an even 4-4 on their home court this season while the Bulldogs have a GAC-leading six road victories this season and a 6-3 record in true road games
 
The Opponent
Southern Nazarene (8-9, 4-7 GAC)
- Have dropped five of their last six games, all GAC contests since the start of the second semester, including a 59-52 setback at Southeastern on Monday
- Returning home for the first of four straight home games after playing three straight away from the Sawyer Center
- Ranked just above SWOSU in scoring offense, averaging 67.8 points per game compared to 67.4 for the Bulldogs
- Tough defensively, holding opponents to just 69.2 points per game, fourth-best mark in the Great American Conference
- Third-best free throw shooting team in the GAC, hitting at a 71.9% (230-for-320) clip from the stripe
- Led in scoring by LB Willis at 13.5 points per game and Francisco Hukill with an average of 12.0 points per contest with four other players averaging better than 6.5 ppg
- Guard Anton Kankaanpaa torched the Bulldogs for a season-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the last meeting, the best shooting by a SWOSU opponent this season
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (27-17, 2nd season; 436-313 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 436-313 (.583), including a 2-1 record against the Crimson Storm as SWOSU's head coach
 
SNU: Adam Bohac (137-73, 7th season)
- Has led the Crimson Storm through the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, now in his seventh season at the school
- Before last season, he led SNU to three straight appearances in the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship
- Second coach in program history to reach three straight national tournaments, including a quarterfinal appearance in 2010
- Won 20 or more games in each of his first four seasons with SNU and he's never finished with a record below .500
 
Last Time Out
- After taking a nine-point lead with 11:28 to play, SWOSU was outscored 21-7 to end the game and fell to Northwestern 61-56 last Thursday night in Alva
- SWOSU wouldn't surrender the lead until the five-minute mark as the Rangers then took a 55-54 lead they would not relinquish
- A Martell Collins basket got the Bulldogs within three with 2:23 to play and the deficit stayed at three into the final minute before NWOSU used free throws to close out the game
- Collins scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the first half but was held short of a double-double for the first time in five games
- Ojo added nine points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots while Washington had eight points and Borders chipped in seven
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU enters the weekend with a 4-6 conference mark and along in eighth place of the Great American Conference standings
- The Bulldogs are one-half game behind a trio of teams tied for fifth at 5-6 and one-half game ahead of a duo that includes Southern Nazarene at 4-7
- SWOSU needs to remain among the top eight teams in the standings in order to qualify for the 2015 Great American Conference Tournament
- Ouachita Baptist, East Central and Southern Arkansas are all tied atop the standings at 8-3, one game ahead of Harding, who is in fourth place at 7-4
 
SWOSU Notes
- Ayo Ojo tied his season-high with three blocked shots against Northwestern and he has blocked at least two shots in five consecutive games
- Ojo now ranks ninth in the GAC in blocked shots with 19 (1.1/game) while also ranking second in offensive rebounds with 46 (2.7/game)
- Despite being held without a double-double for the first time in five games, Martell Collins continues to lead the GAC in rebounding with an average of 9.2 boards per game
- Collins also ranks third in the league in scoring with 17.9 points per game and he's the only player that ranks in the top five in the GAC for both scoring and rebounding
- Trent Washington, SWOSU's second-leading scorer, is averaging 9.5 points per contest while coming off the bench the past four games
- Kenyan Borders was held below 10 points against NWOSU for the first time in four games, but he still ranks as SWOSU's third-leading scorer with 10.6 ppg for the year
- Emeche Wells was limited to a season-low 13 minutes and just two points against Northwestern and he failed to grab a rebound for the second time in the past three games
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU concludes the season with seven of their final nine games on their home court at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center, beginning Saturday as they host East Central
- The following week, the Bulldogs welcome Arkansas Tech and Harding to Weatherford