---

SWOSU (4-9, 1-6 GAC) at Northwestern Okla. (5-8, 1-7 GAC) Monday, Jan. 16, 7:30 pm Alva, Okla. (Percefull Fieldhouse) Stats  |  Audio  |  Video SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- Bulldog Basketball will play their fourth consecutive road game on Monday evening at Northwestern Oklahoma State after their home game scheduled for Saturday against Southern Nazarene was postponed
- SWOSU is 0-3 in the month of January, with all defeats coming away from home after the ended the month of December on a four-game winning streak
- Northwestern Oklahoma State was able to play on Saturday and they suffered a 62-57 setback at Southeastern Oklahoma State to fall to 1-7 in GAC play this season
- The Rangers are 3-2 inside Percefull Fieldhouse this year and they've won all four meetings against SWOSU in Alva since joining the Great American Conference
- SWOSU has struggled away from home this season with a 1-6 record outside of Weatherford and the Dawgs are seeking their first regular season victory in Alva since 1996, when SWOSU defeated a Bob Battisti-led Rangers squad 75-66
 
The Opponent
Northwestern Oklahoma State (5-8, 1-7 GAC)
- The Rangers got their first conference win of the season on Thursday night, defeating Southern Nazarene 66-64 before falling at Southeastern on Saturday
- Northwestern is ranked eighth in the GAC in scoring offense (73.9 points per game) and tenth in scoring defense (75.5 ppg) for a scoring margin of -1.5
- Leading NWOSU is senior Adrian Motley, the GAC's third-leading scorer with an average of 19.8 points per game for the season
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (54-44, 4th season; 463-340 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 463-338 (.582) and he is 2-4 against Northwestern Oklahoma State as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Northwestern Oklahoma State: Shawn Dirden (5-8, 1st season)
- First-time head coach at the collegiate level who is leading the Rangers after a two-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of North Dakota
- Previously spent time as an assistant coach at Montana State, South Dakota, and Indian Hills Community College after playing collegiately at Idaho
 
Checking the Standings
- No. 22/20 Arkansas-Monticello knocked off Henderson State on Saturday to open up a two-game lead on the rest of the GAC at 8-0
- Henderson State and East Central are tied for second place in the league standings at 6-2 while Arkansas Tech and Ouachita are a game behind them at 5-3
- Southern Nazarene, Harding and Southern Arkansas each have four conference wins to round out the top eight spots in the standings
- Southeastern has won two straight games to move into ninth place in the standings at 2-6 while SWOSU, Northwestern and Oklahoma Baptist each have one GAC victory
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*1/26/2013       Alva, Okla.                  L 75-90
*2/28/2013       Weatherford, Okla.     W 67-66
*1/25/2014       Weatherford, Okla.     L 66-67
*2/27/2014       Alva, Okla.                  L 89-90 (OT)
*1/22/2015       Alva, Okla.                  L 56-61
*2/26/2015       Weatherford, Okla.     W 77-46
*1/18/2016       Weatherford, Okla.     W 90-72
*2/15/2016       Alva, Okla.                  L 55-85
 
GAC Era: NWOSU leads 5-3
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 3-1
In Alva: NWOSU leads 4-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- Reshardd Harris led SWOSU with a team-high 17 points at East Central which improves his season average to 10.0 points per game
- Harris is the Bulldogs third-leading scorer and he leads the Bulldogs in rebounding with 6.1 boards per game
- Devin Pugh chipped in 13 points and his team-leading scoring average currently sits at 14.4 points per game
- Markeise Champion was held to less than 10 points for the third straight game on Thursday, his longest such streak as a Bulldog, and his scoring average is down to 10.5 points per game for the year
- Geoffery Hightower made his fourth consecutive start against East Central and he has connected on 5-of-9 three-point attempts during the past three games
- In his return to the starting lineup, Rashon Thomas played a career-high 16 minutes at ECU and finished with three points, two rebounds and two assists
- SWOSU has made 113 three-pointers this season, second-most in the GAC, but the Dawgs are shooting just 29.9% (113-of-378) to rank 11th in the league
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU finally returns to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center on Wednesday evening to host Southeastern
- On Saturday, the Bulldogs head to Shawnee to face Oklahoma Baptist and they return home the following weekend to host Harding (Jan. 26) and Arkansas Tech (Jan. 28)