---

SWOSU (0-4) at Central Missouri (3-1) Saturday, Nov. 26, 2:00 pm Warrensburg, Mo. (UCM Multipurpose Building) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- The SWOSU Men's Basketball team will head north over Thanksgiving weekend to meet Central Missouri in an in-region showdown with the Mules
- Saturday afternoon's contest will tipoff at 2:00 pm from the UCM Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg
- SWOSU enters the contest on a four-game slide, having faced a tough early-season schedule that leaves the Bulldogs in search of their first victory
- Central Missouri comes into the contest with a record of 3-1 after defeating Harris Stowe on Tuesday night in their home opener
- This will be just the second all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Mules, and the first since an 84-73 UCM victory over the Dawgs on December 22, 2005 in Warrensburg
- Saturday's game will be a family affair for SWOSU Assistant Coach Kris Johnson, whose brother Nate is an assistant coach for Central Missouri
 
The Opponent
Central Missouri (3-1)
- Defeated Harris Stowe 69-56 on Tuesday evening, opening their home schedule with a victory after dropping an 82-75 contest at Arkansas-Fort Smith last Saturday
- Opened the season 2-0 with victories over Minnesota Duluth (68-65) and Bemidji State (80-65) in Wisconsin Dells, Wisc.
- UCM has been led in scoring in each game this season by Spencer Reaves, who averages 19.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game to date
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (50-39, 4th season; 459-335 career, 28th season)
- In his fourth season as the head coach of the Bulldogs, having led SWOSU to at least 16 wins in each of his first three years at the helm
- Has coached five players at SWOSU that earned All-GAC distinction, including one GAC Player of the Year (Rod Camphor) and one GAC Defensive Player of the Year (Michael Bradley)
- 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 459-330 (.582) and he is 1-2 at the conference tournament as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Central Missouri: Doug Karleskint (41-23, 3rd season)
- Now in his third season at UCM, where he led the Mules to a 25-7 record, runner-up finish in the MIAA and advanced to second round of NCAA Tournament in 2014-15
- Came to UCM after spending the previous five seasons in the Great American Conference at Arkansas Tech, including four years as the head coach with a 90-34 record
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU takes a brief break from Great American Conference play after suffering a pair of setbacks at Arkansas Tech and Harding last weekend
- The Bulldogs are one of five schools in the GAC -- all from Oklahoma -- that opened the year with an 0-2 record in league play
- Ouachita and Southern Nazarene split their games during the opening week of conference play, while five GAC teams from Arkansas have opened the year 2-0 in conference games
 
The Series
 
Date                Location                             Score
12/22/05          Warrensburg, Mo............. L 73-84
 
All-time: Central Missouri leads 1-0
In Warrensburg: Central Missouri leads 1-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- Markeise Champion led the Bulldogs with 13 points against Harding, becoming the first SWOSU player other than Devin Pugh to lead the Dawgs in scoring this season
- Pugh is the team's leading scorer with an average of 14.5 points per game through four games, with Champion right behind him with an average of 10.0 points per game
- SWOSU is ranked third in the GAC in three-point field goals made this year with 33 (8.3 per game), with Pugh (10), Champion (8) and Nick Shoemaker (6) among the team leaders from long range
- Through four games, SWOSU features the lowest-scoring offense in the Great American Conference with 61.8 points per game and the Bulldogs have been limited to 34.4% field goal shooting
- The Bulldogs are ranked fourth in the GAC with 14 blocked shots (3.5 per game) and Altez Davis leads SWOSU with five blocks in the first four games
- Davis has joined the starting lineup for the last two games, averaging 5.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game with three assists and two blocked shots to his credit
- Collin Jennings ranks third on the team in scoring with 7.8 points per game and he's hit at least one three pointer in three straight games
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU returns home for their first conference home game next Thursday evening against Arkansas-Monticello
- Next Saturday, the Bulldogs will be returning to Rankin Williams Fieldhouse for a game against Southern Arkansas