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Southwestern Christian (2-7) at SWOSU (6-1) Thursday, December 10, 7:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- With a six-game winning streak to their credit, the SWOSU Men's Basketball team closes out the fall semester on their home court with non-conference games against Southwestern Christian and Panhandle State this weekend
- The games begin a stretch of six consecutive games for the Bulldogs at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center, including their first three Great American Conference games in January
- Thursday night's game against Southwestern Christian will pit the Bulldogs against a non-conference opponent from last season, when SWOSU defeated the Eagles 74-74
 
The Opponent
Southwestern Christian (2-7)
-  Enter the game with a 2-7 record, but the Eagles have only played two games on their home court so far this season
- Have earned wins over Oklahoma Wesleyan and Barclay College
- Junior guard Marvin White leads the team in scoring at 23.2 points per game while a trio of others average better than 10.0 points per game
- The Eagles are scoring at an average of 79.1 points per game but they have allowed their opponents to score 86.8 points per contest
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (39-24, 3rd season; 448-320 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 448-320 (.581) and he is 1-0 against Southwestern Christian while coaching the Bulldogs
 
Southwestern Christian: Dave Bliss (2-7, 1st season)
- A veteran of coaching with more than 500 collegiate victories, Dave Bliss is now in his first season as the head coach at Southwestern Christian
- Has held prior collegiate head coaching jobs at Oklahoma, Southern Methodist, New Mexico and Baylor, but he's been out of the college game since 2003
- Winningest all-time coach at New Mexico and he earned his 500th career victory in 2001 while at Baylor
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU built a lead as big as 15 points in the second half before holding off Southern Arkansas in the final minutes for a 77-74 victory last Saturday in Magnolia
- Five different players scored in double figures for the Bulldogs, who were led by Markeise Champion with 16 points
- The Bulldogs hit 45.5% of their field goal attempts and 10-of-24 (41.7%) three pointers while holding SAU to less than 40% shooting in both categories
- Largest scoring discrepancy came from the bench, where SWOSU got 31 points compared to just six for the Muleriders
 
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
- SWOSU's current six-game winning streak is their longest such streak under the direction of Head Coach Bob Battisti, matching a mark from his first season in 2013-14
- The Bulldogs rank fifth in the GAC in scoring offense with an average of 77.3 points per game and they're third in the league in scoring margin, outscoring opponents by an average of 5.7 points per game
- At the defensive end, SWOSU is holding teams to 40.5% field goal shooting and 29.2% three-point shooting, marks that rank second and first, respectively, in the GAC
- Martell Collins leads a balanced attack of four players averaging double figures in scoring with 16.1 points per game, the ninth-best scoring average in the league
- Markeise Champion is SWOSU's second-leading scorer, averaging 13.9 points per game off the bench this season
- The Bulldogs lead the conference in blocked shots (32) and they are tied for the lead in steals (53)
- Three players for SWOSU rank in the top ten in the GAC in blocks, with Ayo Ojo leading the way at nine and Emeche Wells and Juwan Newmen each totaling eight
- Wells also leads the league in steals with 19 while ranking as SWOSU's third-leading scorer (12.9 ppg) and fourth-leading rebounder (4.7 rpg)
- Collin Jennings has scored in double figures in back-to-back games, upping his scoring average to 11.1 points per game after scoring 13 on Saturday at Southern Arkansas
- Newmen is averaging a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game in 18.4 minutes of action per game and he's connected on 20-of-50 (40%) field goal attempts
- Ojo is shooting a team-best 57.1% (12-of-21) from the field, but he also leads the team with 29 fouls committed and he's fouled out of four games so far
- Much of SWOSU's scoring increase this season can be credited to improvement from the three-point line. The Bulldogs currently rank third in the GAC in three-pointers made with an average of 8.9 per game
- The Bulldogs have assisted on over half of their made baskets this season with 89 assists on 176 field goals made, a mark of 50.5%
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs are right back into action on Saturday afternoon, hosting Oklahoma Panhandle State in their final game before breaking for the holidays
- SWOSU then returns to action on January 2nd against Hillsdale Baptist, their final non-conference game of the season