---

SWOSU (11-10, 5-9 GAC) at Ouachita Baptist (15-4, 11-3 GAC) Thursday, February 12, 5:30 pm Arkadelphia, Ark. (Bill Vining Arena) Live Stats  |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- SWOSU Basketball is one game out of the Great American Conference tournament picture with six games remaining on the schedule, starting Thursday at GAC-leader Ouachita Baptist
- The Bulldogs play two road games this weekend, against the top two teams in the league standings, before returning home to finish with four straight games on their home court
- SWOSU swept the Tigers last season, including a 67-63 win in Arkadelphia, but now OBU is threatening to return the favor with a 66-58 win in Weatherford to their credit
- SWOSU enters the weekend 6-4 on the road this season, meaning they are guaranteed of having a road record of at least .500 this season
- This weekend's games conclude a three-game run that has the Bulldogs facing the top three teams in the current GAC standings
 
The Opponent
Ouachita Baptist (15-4, 11-3 GAC)
- Have won four straight games to ascend to the top of the current Great American Conference standings by 1 1/2 games over Southern Arkansas and Harding
- Unbeaten at Bill Vining Arena, their home court, this season with an unblemished 10-0 record at home
- Third-highest scoring team (77.5 ppg) in the GAC and they lead the league in scoring margin with an average margin of victory of 9.2 points per game
- Ranked third in the GAC in both field goal percentage (46.6%) and field goal percentage defense (41.4%)
- Offensive balance has four players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Tirrell Brown at 17.9 points per game
- Other top offensive threats include Colt Fason (14.4 ppg), Justin McCleary (11.9 ppg) and Micah Delph (10.3 ppg)
- Brown leads the GAC and ranks fourth nationally in field goal percentage, having his 123-of-186 (66.1%) field goal attempts this season
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (28-20, 2nd season; 437-316 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 437-316 (.583), including a 2-1 mark against Ouachita Baptist as the head coach of the Bulldogs
 
Ouachita Baptist: Dennis Nutt (57-45, 4th season)
- In his fourth season as the head coach at Ouachita Baptist, where he has led the Tigers to 50 wins and the GAC Tournament Championship in 2013
- Has coached four All-GAC selections and fi ve GAC All-Tournament selections, including Colt Fason, the 2013 GAC Tournament MVP
- Served as the head coach at Texas State University from 2000-06, accumulating a record of 72-96
- Also been an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State and Westark Community College and worked as an NBA scout for the Charlotte Bobcats
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU outscored Harding 13-2 over the final 5:26 of the first half, getting within two at the break before the Bisons shot lights out after halftime to run away to a 79-52 victory
- The Bulldogs hit just 6-of-29 (20.7%) field goals after the intermission, including 0-of-7 shooting from 3-point range en route to just 16 points after the break
- SWOSU outrebounded Harding 38-35, using their effort to score 13 second-chance points, but the Bulldogs had only six assists on 19 made field goals
- Martell Collins led the Bulldogs with 12 points and six rebounds, but he was held scoreless in the second half
- Ayo Ojo scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Kenyan Borders and Keyshawn Perkins each added nine points
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU remains in must-win territory in order to qualify for the 2015 Great American Conference Tournament next month in Bartlesville
- The Bulldogs are currently 5-9 in league play, sitting ninth in the standings, one-half game behind Henderson State for the final spot in the tournament
- Ouachita Baptist, on the flip side, is atop the GAC standings at 11-3, sitting two games clear of second-place Southern Arkansas and Harding in the loss column
 
SWOSU Notes
- As a team, the Bulldogs currently rank second in NCAA Division II for fewest turnovers with 201 and third for turnovers per game with an average of 9.6
- Martell Collins ranks first in the GAC and 17th in NCAA Division II with 10 double-doubles this season
- Collins is nearly averaging a double-double with season marks of 17.3 points and a league-leading 9.3 rebounds per game
- Trent Washington was held without a made 3-pointer against Harding, marking just the third such occurrence for Washington this season
- Keyshawn Perkins returned Saturday after missing his first game of the season and scored nine points in a season-high 25 minutes of action
- Ayo Ojo came off the bench for the first time all season against Harding, and he responded with 10 points and eight rebounds, his first double-figure scoring game of 2015
- Richard McCalop has made at least one three-pointer in three straight games, but his made three-pointer against Harding was his lone basket of the game
- Kenyan Borders is now the only player for SWOSU that has started every game this season and he's averaging 10.1 points per game, third-best on the team
- The Bulldogs are the second-lowest scoring team in the GAC, averaging 66.6 points per game and they've been held below 60 points six times this season
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU heads to Southern Arkansas on Saturday before returning to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center for their final four games of the season