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Southern Arkansas (5-2, 3-0 GAC)  at SWOSU (0-6, 0-3 GAC) Saturday, Dec. 3, 3:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Rankin Williams Fieldhouse) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- For the first time in nearly three years, the SWOSU Men's Basketball team returns to Rankin Williams Fieldhouse to host Southern Arkansas on Saturday afternoon
- The game has been moved to Rankin to accommodate for another event being held in the multi-purpose Pioneer Cellular Event Center on Saturday
- SWOSU won their last three games played at Rankin, and four of their last five, with the last home game held their being a 72-68 win over Ouachita on January 18, 2014
- The Bulldogs come into the contest against SAU winless at 0-6 and they moved to 0-3 in GAC play following a tough 79-78 loss to Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night
- After leading for most of the game with a lead as high as 22 points, SWOSU saw their lead disappear and UAM hit a game-winning three pointer with 3.4 seconds to play
- Southern Arkansas has won two straight games, including a 77-69 win at Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday that improved them to 3-0 in GAC play
 
The Opponent
Southern Arkansas (5-2, 3-0 GAC)
- One of two remaining unbeatens in GAC play (Arkansas-Monticello) after their victory over Northwestern on Thursday night moved the Muleriders to 5-2 on the year
- SAU ranks ninth in the league in scoring offense, averaging 73.4 points per game, but the Muleriders scoring defense is second in the GAC at 64.3 points per game
- CJ Elkins is leading the Muleriders with 17.3 points per game while Snyder Cenecharles is averaging 8.7 points per game for SAU
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (50-41, 4th season; 459-337 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
 
Southern Arkansas: Andy Sharpe (59-60, 5th season)
- Now in his fifth season at SAU, Sharpe has helped the Muleriders to increase their win total in each of his first four years with at the school
- SAU has finished in the top four in the GAC standings the last two years with a record of 32-25 over the span
 
Checking the Standings
- With road victories on Thursday, Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Arkansas remain atop the GAC standings with 3-0 records in league play
- A logjam of six teams are one game back of the duo at 2-1, including Arkansas Tech, Harding, Henderson State, Ouachita and Southern Nazarene
- The bottom five teams in the standings all reside in Oklahoma, with East Central and Oklahoma Baptist at 1-2 while SWOSU, Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southeastern Oklahoma State are still searching for their first league wins of the season
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*1/21/2012       Magnolia, Ark.             W 62-56
*2/18/2012       Weatherford, Okla.     W 74-65
*12/1/2012       Weatherford, Okla.     W 61-58
*1/31/2013       Magnolia, Ark.             L 66-69 (OT)
*11/23/2013     Magnolia, Ark.             W 76-68
*1/30/2014       Weatherford, Okla.     W 72-63
3/6/2014          Bartlesville, Okla.        L 59-63
*1/10/2015       Weatherford, Okla.     L 73-81
*2/14/2015       Magnolia, Ark.             W 76-70
*12/5/2015       Magnolia, Ark.             W 77-74
*2/6/2016         Weatherford, Okla.     W 71-69
3/3/2016          Bartlesville, Okla.        L 82-83
GAC Era: SWOSU leads 8-4
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 4-1
In Magnolia: SWOSU leads 4-1
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU set season highs for points (78), field goals made (27), three-pointers made (15) and assists (15) on Thursday against UAM
- Dominique Lubin had a breakout performance on Thursday night, scoring 17 points with nine rebounds in his first start as a Bulldog, numbers that surpassed his season totals for the first five games of the year
- Markeise Champion led the Bulldogs in scoring for the second time in the past three games with a season-high 21 points against the Weevils on Thursday
- SWOSU's leading scorer, Devin Pugh, battled foul trouble and was limited to a season-low two points on 1-for-5 shooting against UAM
- Daniel Eibel set a new season-high with 10 points against UAM and he's had his two best scoring efforts of the year in the past two games
- Rashon Thomas made his first collegiate start on Thursday night and finished with four points and one rebound in six minutes of action
- Reshardd Harris ranks third on the team in scoring with 7.2 points per game, but he leads the Bulldogs with 5.5 rebounds per game
- Seven different Bulldogs had an assist against UAM, led by Champion with 4
 
Looking Ahead
- Two non-conference games remain for SWOSU before the Holiday Break, beginning next Wednesday when the Dawgs host Cameron at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- Next Sunday, SWOSU heads to Goodwell, Okla., to face Panhandle State in their final game until New Year's Eve