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SWOSU (8-5, 4-3 GAC) at Southern Nazarene (5-8, 4-3 GAC) Saturday, January 16, 3:00 pm Bethany, Okla. (Sawyer Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- In-state conference basketball takes the SWOSU Men's team to Bethany on Saturday to face Southern Nazarene in the Bulldogs first road game of the new calendar year
- SWOSU heads on the road looking to snap a three-game losing skid while SNU is coming off a victory on their home floor on Thursday evening against Northwestern Oklahoma State
- The Bulldogs are unblemished on the road this season at 3-0, including a win at Central Oklahoma and conference wins at Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Arkansas
- With three straight defeats, the Bulldogs have moved into a four-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings that includes Southern Nazarene
- SWOSU is 2-1 in their trips to Bethany since SNU joined the league, with their lone defeat coming last season by a score of 71-57
- The two teams have split six meetings against each other as league foes, with SWOSU sweeping the season series in 2013-14
- SNU is 4-1 on their home court this season, their lone setback coming last Saturday against Southern Arkansas
 
The Opponent
Southern Nazarene (5-8, 4-3 GAC)
- Have won two of their three games played since returning from the semester break, with each game being played on their home floor
- Third-highest scoring team in the GAC, averaging 78.9 points per game while allowing 81.1 points per contest for a scoring margin of -2.2
- Ranked second in the GAC with 126 made three-pointers, 9.7 per game, this season while shooting 38.5% (126-for-327) from distance on the year
- Top two scorers are CJ Rodriguez (19.1 ppg) and LB Willis (15.8 ppg), with both ranking among the league's top 10 scorers
- Willis also ranks third in the conference with 23 steals, fourth with 50 assists and 13th in field goal percentage, making 49.3% (73-for-148) of his attempts this year
- Rodriguez is second in the GAC in three-point field goal percentage (47.8%) and he ranks behind only SWOSU's Markeise Champion with 43 made three-pointers
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (41-28, 3rd season; 450-324 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 450-324 (.585) and he is 2-2 against Southern Nazarene while coaching the Bulldogs
 
Southern Nazarene: Adam Bohac (147-86, 8th season)
- Has guided Southern Nazarene through their transition from NAIA into NCAA Division II and the Great American Conference, reaching the conference tournament last season for the first time
- Became the fastest coach in school history to reach 100 wins in 2012 and he is now on the verge of his 150th victory at the school
- Led the Storm to three NAIA National Tournament appearances and four straight 20-win seasons before starting the NCAA transition
- Previously coached at the United States Military Academy after a three-year stint as an assistant coach at SNU
 
The Series
GAC History Only
      Date                Location                            Score             
      *12/15/2012     Bethany, Okla.                  W 63-54
      *1/24/2013       Weatherford, Okla.           L 63-67
      *1/23/2014       Bethany, Okla.                  W 83-77
      *2/25/2014       Weatherford, Okla.           W 73-58
      *12/13/2014     Weatherford, Okla.           L 65-74
      *1/29/2015       Bethany, Okla.                  L 57-71
*GAC Conference Meeting
 
Last Time Out
- For the second straight game, the Bulldogs took a lead into the break but went cold and suffered a defeat as they fell to East Central 77-65 on Thursday night
- ECU scored the first 12 points of the second half to turn SWOSU's 37-35 lead into a 10-point Tiger advantage early in the final period
- Martell Collins led the Bulldogs with 15 points while Markeise Champion added 13 points and six assists and Juwan Newmen grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds
 
SWOSU Notes
- The Bulldogs used a new starting lineup for the third straight game against East Central with Juwan Newmen making his second start of the season in place of Ayo Ojo
- SWOSU added seven blocked shots to their league-leading total of 60 (4.6/game) on Thursday, getting two apiece from Newmen, Markeise Champion and Oliver Willis
- Champion has started four straight games for the Bulldogs, playing 33 minutes or more in the last three and averaging 16.3 points per game to raise his season scoring average to 14.9 ppg
- Martell Collins added 15 points on Thursday against ECU to keep his team-leading average at 15.2 points per game
- Collins has connected on 14-of-16 (87.5%) free throws in the past three games and he is shooting 73.2% (52-of-71) from the stripe for the year
- Collin Jennings scored nine points on 3-of-7 shooting against East Central, his fifth straight game with single-digit points which has dropped his scoring average to 8.6 points per game
- Newmen tied a season-high with 12 rebounds against ECU, his third double-figure rebounding game of the season
- Nick Shoemaker has scored nine points in each of the last two games, knocking down a combined 5-of-15 field goal attempts, all three-point attempts
- Luke Lewallen has joined the starting lineup for the past two games and he's averaging 8.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 45.4% (5-for-11) from the field
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU returns home for Big Monday rivalry action as they host Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7:30 pm inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- The Bulldogs then head to Southeastern Oklahoma State on Wednesday evening before hosting Oklahoma Baptist next Saturday