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SWOSU (4-11, 1-8 GAC) at Oklahoma Baptist (4-10, 1-9 GAC) Saturday, Jan. 21, 3:00 pm Shawnee, Okla. (Noble Complex) Stats  |  Audio  |  Video SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Basketball heads to Shawnee on Saturday to face the newest member of the Great American Conference, Oklahoma Baptist
- Oklahoma Baptist is playing their second season of basketball in the GAC, but they are still ineligible for postseason due to their transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II
- Both teams will be looking for their second conference win of the season, with SWOSU one-half game ahead of the Bison in the league standings
- SWOSU is looking to end a five-game slide that includes four consecutive setbacks away from home and the Dawgs are 1-7 on the road this season
- Oklahoma Baptist is just 1-9 in league play this year, but they have an overall mark of 4-4 at the Noble Complex in Shawnee
- Last season, SWOSU swept Oklahoma Baptist in their first season playing a GAC schedule with a 78-67 victory in Shawnee
 
The Opponent
Oklahoma Baptist (4-10, 1-9 GAC)
- The Bison dropped their sixth consecutive game on Thursday night, falling 96-59 at Northwestern Oklahoma State to move to 1-9 in GAC action this season
- OBU ranks 10th in the league in scoring, averaging 71.9 points per game while their opponents average 77.6 points per game for a scoring margin of -5.6
- Five players average double figures in scoring for OBU, led by Chandler Rickey (15.3 ppg), Steven Green (13.6 ppg) and Kevin Francheschi (13.5 ppg)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (54-46, 4th season; 463-342 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 463-342 (.582) and he is 2-0 against Oklahoma Baptist as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Oklahoma Baptist: Quinn Wooldridge (11-29, 2nd season)
- Named the 19th men's basketball coach at Oklahoma Baptist prior to last season, when he led the Bison to a record of 7-19
- A former player at OBU, Wooldridge is the Bison's first coach as an NCAA institution and a 2012 OBU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee
 
Checking the Standings
- #16/11 Arkansas-Monticello maintains a two-game lead on the rest of the conference after winning in overtime at Ouachita on Thursday night
- East Central has won 12 straight games to move into sole possession of second place of the league standings by two games
- Arkansas Tech, Henderson State, Harding and Ouachita are tied for third at 6-4, one-half game ahead of 5-4 Southern Nazarene
- Southern Arkansas has the inside track to the eighth and final spot in the GAC Tournament, but Southeastern and Northwestern Oklahoma State are now just one game behind them
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*1/23/2016       Weatherford, Okla.     W 82-70
*2/20/2016       Shawnee, Okla.          W 78-67
 
GAC Era: SWOSU leads 2-0
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 1-0
In Shawnee: SWOSU leads 1-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- Markeise Champion tied his season-high with 21 points against Southeastern Oklahoma State and he is averaging 18.0 points per game in two outings this week
- Champion is second on the team with an average of 11.5 points per game and he is the team-leader with 29 assists and 15 steals
- Against Southeastern, SWOSU's leading scorer Devin Pugh was held to six points, just the third time this season he failed to reach double figures in scoring
- Pugh leads the Bulldogs and ranks 17th in the Great American Conference in scoring with an average of 13.6 points per game this season
- SWOSU's third-leading scorer, Reshardd Harris, has been held to six points or fewer in four of the last five games which has lowered his scoring average to 9.4 points per game
- Luke Lewallen made his first start of the season on Wednesday and finished with nine points, four rebounds and a season-high four assists
- The Bulldogs were outrebounded 40-24 by Northwestern on Monday and 48-27 by Southeastern on Wednesday, the two worst rebounding efforts by the team this season
- SWOSU ranks third in the GAC in three-point field goals made with 135 (9.0 per game) while shooting 30.8% (135-of-438) from long range this season
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU returns to Weatherford on Thursday evening to start the second round of conference play against Harding
- On Saturday, the NCAA Division II Showcase comes to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center for the Bulldogs game against Arkansas Tech