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SWOSU (4-6, 1-3 GAC) at Henderson State (8-2, 3-1 GAC) Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, 7:30 pm Arkadelphia, Ark. (Duke Wells Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Men's Basketball takes a four-game winning streak into a Great American Conference contest at Henderson State on Thursday evening
- The Bulldogs won their first GAC contest on December 3, defeating Southern Arkansas 80-76 in Rankin Williams Fieldhouse to improve to 1-3 in league play
- Since that time, the Dawgs have claimed non-conference victories over Cameron, Panhandle State and Randall, heading into the new calendar year with a record of 4-6 overall and 1-3 in GAC action
- SWOSU looks to avenge a season sweep that was suffered against Henderson State last season, including a 75-56 defeat in Arkadelphia near the end of the regular season
- The Bulldogs lead the overall series in the NCAA Division II era 6-5, including a 3-2 mark against the Reddies in Arkadelphia
 
The Opponent
Henderson State (8-2, 3-1 GAC)
- The Reddies bring a four-game winning streak into Thursday's contest and they are just one game back of first place in the league standings at 3-1
- HSU has defeated Southern Nazarene, Oklahoma Baptist and Southeastern in league play while their only two losses of the season are against Nebraska-Kearney and East Central
- Henderson leads the GAC in scoring offense (88.1 ppg) and ranks fifth in scoring defense (71.8 ppg), giving them a scoring margin of +16.3 which is second best in the conference
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (54-41, 4th season; 463-337 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 463-337 (.582) and he is 4-2 against Henderson State as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Henderson State: Jimmy Elgas (17-21, 2nd)
- Led the Reddies to a 9-19 record overall in his first season and his 2016-17 team is already on the verge of matching their win total from last season
- Elgas has an impressive resume which includes stops at numerous NCAA Division I programs, including Evansville, Utah, Kansas State and Texas State
 
Checking the Standings
- Arkansas-Monticello enters the new calendar year as the league leader with a perfect 4-0 mark in GAC games
- A log jam of four teams are just one game back of the Weevils with a 3-1 conference mark to date: Harding, Henderson State, Southern Arkansas, Southern Nazarene
- Tied for sixth place with even records of 2-2 through the first four games are Arkansas Tech, East Central and Ouachita
- After picking up their first conference victory, the Bulldogs moved into a share of ninth place in the standings with Oklahoma Baptist
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*1/5/2012         Arkadelphia, Ark.        L 80-86
*2/2/2012         Weatherford, Okla.     L 73-77
3/1/2012          Bartlesville, Okla.        W 81-60
*1/17/2013       Arkadelphia, Ark.        W 90-84
*2/21/2013       Weatherford, Okla.     L 55-59
*1/16/2014       Weatherford, Okla.     W 79-76
*2/20/2014       Arkadelphia, Ark.        W 79-74 (2 OT)
*1/15/2015       Arkadelphia, Ark.        W 73-60
*2/21/2015       Weatherford, Okla.     W 74-56
*1/7/2016         Weatherford, Okla.     L 52-77
*2/25/2016       Arkadelphia, Ark.        L 56-75
 
NCAA Division II Era: SWOSU leads 6-5
In Weatherford: Henderson State leads 3-2
In Arkadelphia: SWOSU leads 3-2
 
SWOSU Notes
- Thursday's matchup between the Bulldogs and Henderson State will match two of the hottest teams in the GAC with both teams riding a four-game win streak currently
- SWOSU scored a season-high 91 points in Saturday's victory over Randall, the team's fourth consecutive victory
- Reshardd Harris secured his third double-double of the season against Randall, scoring a season-high 23 points while hauling in 11 rebounds in the win
- SWOSU's leading scorer, Devin Pugh (13.9 ppg), poured in a season-high 22 points in 21 minutes against Randall
- Markeise Champion gave the Bulldogs three players with 20 or more points against Randall, chipping in 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field
- Collin Jennings has pulled down six or more rebounds in four of the past five games, giving him 46 (4.6 per game) for the year, a mark that ranks third on the team
- SWOSU has shot above 40.0% from the field in their last three games after reaching that mark in just three of the first seven games to start the season
- Nick Shoemaker has knocked down a three-pointer in eight out of ten games this season and he's shooting a team-best 43.9% (18-for-41) from long range this season
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs head across the street in Arkadelphia to Vining Arena to face Ouachita on Saturday at 3:00 pm
- Next weekend, SWOSU will head to Ada to face East Central on Thursday before returning home to host Southern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon