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SWOSU (16-11, 12-9 GAC) at Ouachita (16-11, 16-5 GAC) Saturday, February 27, 3:00 pm Arkadelphia, Ark. (Bill Vining Arena) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Stage
- SWOSU Basketball's season finale leads the Bulldogs across the street in Arkadelphia to face Ouachita on Saturday afternoon
- The Bulldogs are reeling following a 75-56 setback at Henderson State, the league's other team in Arkadelphia, on Thursday evening
- A bounce back win by the Bulldogs would allow them to stake their claim for the fourth seed in the upcoming GAC Tournament while a defeat could drop SWOSU down to the sixth seed
- Ouachita, meanwhile, is fighting for a share of the Great American Conference regular season championship as they are currently tied with East Central and Harding for the top spot
- The Tigers are the defending conference champions and they've won three straight regular season contest against the Dawgs, who upset Ouachita in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament last March
- SWOSU is 5-6 on the road this year, looking to finish at or above .500 away from home for the third straight season under Head Coach Bob Battisti
- Ouachita is 9-2 at Bill Vining Arena and they are 3-1 against the Bulldogs in their home venue since the inception of the Great American Conference
 
The Opponent
Ouachita (16-11, 16-5 GAC)
- Currently tied atop the Great American Conference standings and searching for at least a share of their second straight conference championship
- After going winless in non-conference play, the Tigers are 16-5 against the GAC this season including a 10-game winning streak that spanned the entire month of January
- Third-highest scoring team in the GAC at 78.1 points per game, behind the two other teams they are tied atop the standings with
- Ranked first in the league in free throw percentage (74.8%), second in three-point percentage (38.5%) and fourth in field goal percentage (46.3%)
- Averaging 7.0 steals per game to lead the GAC by a wide margin and their assist:turnover ratio of 1.1:1 is the fourth-best in the conference
- Led in scoring (16.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg) by the defending GAC Player of the Year, Tirrell Brown while Lakee Westbrook averages 15.1 points and Justin McCleary is at 14.0 points per game
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (49-34, 3rd season; 458-330 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 458-330 (.582) and he is 3-3 against Ouachita as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Ouachita: Dennis Nutt (78-58, 5th season)
- A former NBA player with the Dallas Mavericks, now in his fifth season as the head coach at Ouachita Baptist after previously coaching for six seasons at Texas State
- Led the Tigers to the 2014-15 GAC regular season championship and the 2013 GAC Tournament Championship
- Has also been an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State and Westark Community College, as well as a graduate assistant coach at Texas A&M
 
The Series
GAC History Only
      Date                Location                            Score             
      *1/7/2012         Arkadelphia, Ark.              L 56-68
      *2/5/2012         Weatherford, Okla.           W 79-53
      *1/19/2013       Arkadelphia, Ark.              L 52-58
      *2/23/2013       Weatherford, Okla.           W 75-63
      *1/18/2014       Weatherford, Okla.           W 72-68
      *2/22/2014       Arkadelphia, Ark.              W 67-63
      *1/8/2015         Weatherford, Okla.           L 58-66
      *2/12/2015       Arkadelphia, Ark.              L 63-89
      3/6/2015          Bartlesville, Okla.              W 71-67 (OT)
      *1/9/2016         Weatherford, Okla.           L 62-73
*GAC Conference Meeting
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU was held to 33.3% shooting and committed 18 turnovers on Thursday night in a 75-56 setback against Henderson State
- The Reddies converted 18 SWOSU turnovers into 26 points while SWOSU scored just six points off of HSU's 10 turnovers on the night
- Emeche Wells led the Bulldogs with 14 points and Juwan Newmen secured a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds
 
SWOSU Notes
- Two of SWOSU's three lowest-scoring games this season have come against Henderson State, the team they totaled 56 points against on Thursday night
- SWOSU had a season-low four assists on 19 made field goals against HSU and they've had less than 10 assists in each of their last two games
- With his 12 rebounds on Thursday, Juwan Newmen reached double figures in boards for the 10th time this season and he ranks third in the league with a rebounding average of 8.2 per game
- Emeche Wells has scored 12 or more points in three straight games and four out of the last five after going 12 straight games without reaching that mark
- Wells is the Bulldogs third-leading scorer, averaging 9.3 points per game for the season, and he leads the GAC with 51 steals (2.1/game)
- Markeise Champion leads the GAC with 82 made three-pointers this season, but he was held without a made three for just the third time this season on Thursday
- Nick Shoemaker scored 10 points at HSU, his fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season and he ranks fourth on the team with 38 made three's this season
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs have punched their ticket to the postseason and they head to Bartlesville next week for the GAC Tournament, which is held on March 3-6