Setting the Stage- Bulldog basketball has rebounded with two straight wins and they look for a third victory this week on Saturday against Oklahoma Baptist
- The game will tipoff at approximately 2:00 pm from the Pioneer Cellular Event Center in Weatherford, with game times moved up to accommodate a high school tournament also being played in the facility
- SWOSU enters the contest 6-5 on their home floor after defeating Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday and they are now 10-6 overall following Wednesday's victory at Southeastern Oklahoma State
- This will be the first meeting between SWOSU and Oklahoma Baptist since the Bulldogs joined NCAA Division II, with the last meeting taking place early in the 1996-97 season
- Oklahoma Baptist is in their first year as a provisional member of the Great American Conference and NCAA Division II
- The Bison are 5-9 overall and 1-9 in league play following a Thursday evening setback at home against Northwestern Oklahoma State
- SWOSU is currently tied for fifth place in the standings at 6-4 while Oklahoma Baptist is at the bottom of the standings and looking for their first road victory this season
The OpponentOklahoma Baptist (5-9, 1-9 GAC)- In the midst of a six-game winless streak and the Bison come into Saturday's game looking for their first victory of 2016
- Most recently dropped two home games against Southern Nazarene and Northwestern Oklahoma State, allowing 94 points in each game
- Lowest-scoring team in the conference, averaging just 68.6 points per game while allowing 75.1 points per contest for a scoring margin of -6.5
- Struggles originate on the perimeter, where they are shooting a league-worst 32.3% (127-for-393) from three-point range while allowing their opponents to shoot 41.0% from deep
- Led by Steven Green, the fourth-leading scorer in the GAC at 17.8 points per game while shooting 43.1% from the field and 35.6% from three-point range
- Point guard Vladimir Nemcok leads the GAC with 84 steals (6.0/game) and ranks second to
Emeche Wells in steals with 25 (1.4/game)
- OBU's Chandler Rickey leads the conference in blocked shots with 32 (2.3/game) and he's the Bison's second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game
The CoachesSWOSU: Bob Battisti (43-29, 3rd season; 452-325 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 452-325 (.581) and he will be facing Oklahoma Baptist for the first time as the head coach at SWOSU
Oklahoma Baptist: Quinn Wooldridge (5-9, 1st season)- Named the 19th men's basketball coach in Oklahoma Baptist history last spring and now the first coach for the Bison as an NCAA basketball team
- Played four years for OBU, graduating in 1999 after finishing as the program's all-time leader in games played and ranking third in career scoring
- Spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Southwestern Christian and he had also been the head coach at the University of the Southwest
The SeriesGAC History Only Date Location Score First Meeting as GAC foes
*GAC Conference Meeting Last Time Out- SWOSU hit a season-high 17 three-pointers and shot 52.5% from the field in an 89-82 victory at Southeastern Oklahoma State on Wednesday
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Martell Collins and
Nick Shoemaker each set new career-high scoring totals, with Collins putting up a game-high 27 points and Shoemaker added 13 points
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Juwan Newmen scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds, coming up one rebound shy of his second straight double-double and third of the season
SWOSU Notes- SWOSU is averaging 89.5 points per game in two victories this week and they're coming off their two highest-scoring games against NCAA Division II foes this season
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Martell Collins is averaging 25.0 points per game over the past three games, upping his season average to 17.0 points per game which ranks sixth in the GAC
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Markeise Champion hit 5-of-8 three-pointers on Wednesday, giving him 58 triples (3.63/game) this season to rank seventh in NCAA Division II
- The Bulldogs have upped their season scoring average to 76.1 points per game and they continue to hold opponents to 73.2 points per game, the second-best scoring defense in the GAC
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Ayo Ojo and
Juwan Newmen are leading the Bulldogs with 22 and 16 blocked shots, respectively, to help SWOSU lead the conference with 71 blocks (4.4/game)
- Newmen has started the last four games and he's averaging a double-double of exactly 10.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in that span
- Ojo has been extremely effective coming off the bench this week, averaging 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game with perfect field goal shooting (5-for-5) in the past two games
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Emeche Wells set a new career high with assists on Wednesday at Southeastern and he's averaging 6.0 per game since returning from injury on Monday
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Collin Jennings snapped a seven-game streak of scoring less than 10 points on Wednesday with 11 points and 3-of-6 three-point shooting at Southeastern
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Nick Shoemaker has made multiple three-pointers in five straight games, including 4-for-6 shooting on Wednesday for a new career-high 13 points
- Shoemaker is 15-for-36 (41.7%) from three the past five games, averaging three made triples and 9.8 points per game during that time period
Looking Ahead- The second round of Great American Conference play begins next weekend and SWOSU heads east to face Arkansas Tech and Harding
- SWOSU will play seven of their final 11 games on the road with their next home game scheduled for February 4th against Arkansas-Monticello
