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SWOSU (5-15, 2-12 GAC) at Southern Nazarene (11-9, 8-6 GAC) Thursday, Feb. 9, 7:30 pm Bethany, Okla. (Sawyer Center) Stats | Video | Audio SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- Bulldog Basketball heads down Route 66 on Thursday evening to face Southern Nazarene at 7:30 pm from the Sawyer Center in Bethany
- This will be the first meeting of the season between the Bulldogs and Crimson Storm, who had their previously scheduled game in January postponed to February 20th in Weatherford
- The series between SWOSU and Southern Nazarene is tied at 4-4 during the Great American Conference era, with SNU joining the league in 2012-13
- SWOSU was victorious the first two times they travelled to the Sawyer Center, but the Crimson Storm have won the last two meetings on their home court
- The Bulldogs are looking to snap a four-game slide and earn their third conference victory on Thursday while SNU is coming off a victory over Harding on Saturday
 
The Opponent
Southern Nazarene (11-9, 8-6 GAC)
- Winners of three of their last four games, including a 33-point victory at Harding last Saturday in Searcy
- The Crimson Storm rank sixth in the GAC in scoring offense (77.2 ppg) and third in scoring defense (71.8 ppg), giving them a scoring margin of +5.4 points per game
- Four players are scoring better than 10 points per game for SNU, led by Jhonathan Dunn (13.5 ppg), LB Willis (12.9 ppg) and Deshon Portley (11.3 ppg)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (55-49, 4th season; 463-345 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 27 years as a head coach, Battisti has a career record of 464-346 (.582) and he is 3-3 against Southern Nazarene as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Southern Nazarene: Adam Bohac (166-103, 9th season)
- Has guided the Crimson Storm through their transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II and led his team to back-to-back GAC Tournament appearances
- Fastest coach in school history to reach 100 wins and he has led SNU to four 20-win seasons and three NAIA National Tournament appearances
 
Checking the Standings
- #17/15 Arkansas-Monticello remains out on top of the conference standings by two games with a three-game winning streak and 13-2 conference record
- Two games behind the Weevils is Arkansas Tech and East Central, both of which are currently 11-4 in league play
- Harding is along in fourth place in the standings, two games ahead of Southern Nazarene and Ouachita
- Southern Arkansas has the inside track on the final spot in the conference tournament with a two-game lead over Northwestern Oklahoma State
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*12/15/2012     Bethany, Okla.            W 63-54
*1/24/2013       Weatherford, Okla.      L 63-67
*1/23/2014       Bethany, Okla.            W 83-77
*2/25/2014       Weatherford, Okla.     W 73-58
*12/13/2014     Weatherford, Okla.      L 65-74
*1/29/2015       Bethany, Okla.             L 57-71
*1/16/2016       Bethany, Okla.             L 77-82
*2/13/2016       Weatherford, Okla.     W 80-75
 
GAC Era: Series Tied 4-4
In Weatherford: Series Tied 2-2
In Bethany: Series Tied 2-2
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU's leading scorer, Markeise Champion, had his streak of 20-point games snapped at five after being held to just 5 points at Arkansas-Monticello last Saturday
- To fill his scoring void, Bulldog backup point guards Rashon Thomas and Cooper Battisti each set new career highs with 13 and 8 points, respectively
- Champion leads SWOSU and ranks 16th in the GAC in scoring with 14.1 points per game and he's third in the league with 60 made 3-pointers this season (3.0 per game)
- Reshardd Harris led SWOSU in scoring for the fourth time this season at UAM, getting 14 points to lift his season average to 9.7 points per game
- After three straight games with 10 or more points, Devin Pugh was held to 13 points on 4-of-20 (20.0%) shooting during the Bulldogs two games last weekend
- SWOSU has committed the fewest turnovers of any team in the Great American Conference, with 237 turnovers (11.9 per game) in 20 contests this season
- Dominique Lubin has started the last four games for the Bulldogs and he's pulled down 33 rebounds (8.3 per game) during that stretch
- Nick Shoemaker has hit at least two three-pointers in six straight games, hitting on 17-of-42 (40.5%) attempts in those games
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU finishes the season with six of their final seven games at home, beginning Saturday with the Hall of Fame game against East Central
- The Bulldogs will play three games next week, including home contests against Northwestern Oklahoma State (Monday) and Oklahoma Baptist (Thursday)