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SWOSU (15-10, 11-8 GAC) at Oklahoma Baptist (7-16, 3-16 GAC) Saturday, February 20, 3:00 pm Shawnee, Okla. (Noble Complex) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- The SWOSU Men's Basketball team will conclude the regular season with three straight road contests, starting Saturday afternoon in Shawnee against Oklahoma Baptist
- The Bulldogs have suffered four straight road setbacks, dating back to January 20, and they are 4-5 away from home for the year
- Oklahoma Baptist is the newest member of the Great American Conference and coming off a road win at Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday evening
- SWOSU is alone in fourth place in the GAC standings and they can clinch a berth in the league's postseason tournament with a win on Saturday
- OBU is alone in the cellar of the GAC standings, but the Bison are 6-8 on their home floor this season
- The Bulldogs were victorious in their prior meeting with OBU, defeating the Bison 82-70 at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center last month
- SWOSU finished their home portion of the schedule with a victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State, the sixth consecutive win for the Dawgs at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
 
The Opponent
Oklahoma Baptist (7-16, 3-16 GAC)
- Enter Saturday's contest with momentum after two close road games, including an 87-82 victory at Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday
- Their win in Alva was their first road victory of the season while they are 6-8 at the Noble Complex in their first season as a member of NCAA Division II
- One of the lowest scoring teams in the league, averaging 69.5 points per game, but they've scored 70 or more in four of their last five games
- OBU allows their opponents to shoot 39% from three-point range, a higher percentage than any other team in the GAC allows
- Led by the GAC's second-leading scorer Steven Green (18.7 ppg), who scored 33 points against the Bulldogs in the first meeting between the teams
- The Bisons Chandler Rickey leads the conference in rebounding (8.8/game) and blocked shots (2.0/game)
- Green and Vladimir Nemcok, the GAC's leader in assists, rank first and third, respectively in the GAC for minutes played averaging better than 35 minutes per game
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (48-33, 3rd season; 457-329 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 457-329 (.582) and he is 1-0 against Oklahoma Baptist as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Oklahoma Baptist: Quinn Wooldridge (7-16, 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 Series
GAC History Only
      Date                Location                            Score             
      *1/23/2016       Weatherford, Okla.           W 82-70
*GAC Conference Meeting
 
Last Time Out
- The senior trio of Martell Collins, Juwan Newmen and Emeche Wells combined to score 52 points in a 79-68 Senior Night victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday
- SWOSU trailed by eight, 39-31, at the break but opened the second half on an 8-0 run to tie the game before using a 7-0 run midway through the half to take the lead for good
- Keyshawn Perkins set new career highs with 11 rebounds -- six offensive -- five assists and four steals off the bench
 
SWOSU Notes
- Saturday's contest will match the top two scorers in the GAC during league play as SWOSU's Martell Collins leads the league at 19.9 points per game while OBU's Steven Grean is second at 19.2 points per contest
- SWOSU had 10 steals on Thursday, their fourth game with 10 or more steals and first in seven contests
- The Bulldogs also added two blocked shots to their season total, which stands at 98 (3.9/game) and ranks second in the GAC heading into Saturday's game
- Markeise Champion leads the GAC with 81 made three-pointers this season and he's moved into the top five for single-season three's made at SWOSU
- Champion also ranks third in the conference with an assist:turnover ratio of 1.6:1 after totaling 82 assists and 50 turnovers to date
- SWOSU has been held to 65 points or less in their last three road contests, all setbacks against conference foes
- Emeche Wells had his best scoring game of the spring semester with 18 points on Senior Night and he added three steals to his GAC-leading total that now stands at 48
- In his fourth game since returning to the SWOSU lineup, Keyshawn Perkins made the most of his 22 minutes by totaling career highs in rebounds (11), assists (5) and steals (4)
- Juwan Newmen had been one rebound shy of a double-double in two straight games, keeping him ranked third in the league with an average of 8.0 rebounds per game
- Collin Jennings has solidified his spot as the Bulldogs number three scorer at 9.4 points per game, but he's battled foul trouble of late with four or more fouls four of the past four games
 
Looking Ahead
- Next weekend, SWOSU heads to Arkansas one final time to face Henderson State on Thursday and Ouachita Baptist on Saturday
- With one more victory, the Bulldogs can assure themselves of a trip to Bartlesville, Okla., for the GAC Tournament on March 3-6