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Panhandle State (5-1) at SWOSU (7-1) Saturday, December 12, 3:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- SWOSU Basketball is back at home on Saturday afternoon to face Panhandle State in their final game before the holiday break
- The Bulldogs enter the game with seven consecutive victories and a 7-1 overall record, while the Aggies are 5-1 on the year
- SWOSU defeated Southwestern Christian on Thursday night, hitting a season-best 15 three-point field goals on their way to the 84-57 victory
- The Bulldogs are in the midst of a six-game home stand that spans more than one month, including the first four games after the semester break
- Panhandle State has won two straight games after their lone loss of the season against West Texas A&M
- SWOSU defeated the Aggies 86-62 last season when the teams met in Goodwell
 
The Opponent
Panhandle State (5-1)
- The Aggies come to Weatherford with a 5-1 record and riding a two-game winning streak with wins over Ecclesia College and Hillsdale Baptist in their last two outings
- OPSU also holds two victories over Western New Mexico and Barclay College to their credit, scoring a season-high 132 points against BC on November 17
- The only loss for the Aggies came by 10 points, 87-77, against West Texas A&M back on December 1st
- Antonio Manns, Jr., is the top scorer for the Aggies, averaging 22.0 points per game to lead the OPSU attack of 87.4 points per game
- Zoran Arsenovic (14.1 ppg) and Melvin Mitchell (12.4 ppg) are OPSU's other top scorers while four other players have chipped in 6.5 points per game or better
- The Aggies are averaging almost 10 free throw attempts per game more than their opponents so far this season and they hit 76.4% of their shots from the stripe
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (40-24, 3rd season; 449-320 career, 27th season)
- In his third season as the head coach of the Bulldogs, having led SWOSU to back-to-back winning seasons in his first two years at the helm
- Has coached three players at SWOSU that earned All-GAC distinction, including one GAC Player of the Year and one GAC Defensive Player of the Year
- 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 26 years as a head coach, Battisti has a career record of 449-320 (.585) and he is 1-0 against Panhandle State while coaching the Bulldogs
 
Panhandle State: Jerry Olson (48-177, 9th season)
- Has been the Head Men's Basketball Coach at OPSU since 2007 after previously serving as the Athletic Director for the Aggies as well
- Came to Goodwell after ten years as an assistant men's basketball coach at Montana State
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU knocked down a season-best 15 three-pointers and had six players reach double figures in scoring as they defeated Southwestern Christian 84-57
- The victory is the seventh straight by the Bulldogs, making it the longest winning streak under head coach Bob Battisti
- Markeise Champion, Luke Lewallen and Nick Shoemaker each scored in double figures and helped SWOSU to a 47-10 advantage in bench scoring
- Martell Collins added 15 points and seven assists while Collin Jennings scored 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting
 
Checking The Standings
- By starting conference play with four straight wins, the Bulldogs have earned themselves a spot atop the league standings by one game
- Three teams are right behind SWOSU at 3-1, including two teams - Arkansas Tech and Harding - that the Bulldogs have victories over
- Southeastern Oklahoma State, Southern Nazarene and Ouachita are all 2-2 with the remaining five teams in the league all tied at 1-3 in conference play
 
SWOSU Notes
- Martell Collins has scored in double figures each game this season and he currently leads the Bulldogs with a scoring average of 16.0 points per game
- The Bulldogs have nine different players who have knocked down a three-point attempt and the team has connected on 77-of-204 (37.7%) attempts this season
- Markeise Champion is SWOSU's top long-range threat, hitting 29-of-59 (49.2%) attempts from range and averaging 14.1 points per game off the bench
- Collin Jennings (37.8%), Nick Shoemaker (38.5%) and Collins (30.2%) have all hit 10 or more three-pointers and they are shooting better than 30% from deep on the year
- Shoemaker scored 12 points and Luke Lewallen had 10 as both redshirt freshmen set new career highs for points against Southwestern Christian
- Emeche Wells was limited by foul trouble and held without a steal for the first time this season against SCU, but he still leads the team with 19 steals (2.4/game) this season
- Ayo Ojo has grabbed at least five rebounds in seven straight games and he ranks third onthe team with 42 (5.3/game) this season
- Keyshawn Perkins has started every game this season as the Bulldogs point guard and he ranks second on the team with 21 assists (2.6/game)
- Cooper Battisti scored a career-best five points in eight minutes against Southwestern Christian and he's a 3-for-3 shooting from the field this season
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU will be off for the holidays following Saturday's game, not returning to action until January 2nd when they host Hillsdale Baptist at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- That game will be the final non-conference game on the 2015-16 schedule as the Dawgs conclude the season with 18 consecutive conference games