Setting the Scene
- Bulldog Basketball plays their lone road game of December on Thursday evening in Edmond when they face Oklahoma Christian
- This is the first meeting between the in-state foes since 1997, when SWOSU left the NAIA to join NCAA Division II, a move the Eagles later followed and completed prior to the 2015-16 season
- Both teams enter the contest follow back-to-back defeats, with SWOSU sitting at 1-5 after falling to Southeastern on Saturday while OC is 3-4 after dropping their conference opener last Saturday
- SWOSU and Oklahoma Christian both bring a scoring offense of better than 85 points per game into Thursday's matchup, but the Bulldogs have been held to less than 80 points in two straight games
 
About the Opponent
Oklahoma Christian (3-4)
- The Eagles have dropped their last two games and three of their last four following an overtime loss at Newman on Saturday in their Heartland Conference opener
- OC has scored at least 82 points in each of their first seven games, with five players averaging better than 10 points per game for the season
- Jordan Box is the Eagles' leading scorer at 14.1 points per game while Will Lienhard currently leads NCAA Division II with an average of 12.7 rebounds per game
- One of Oklahoma Christian's all-time greats, Cory Cole is in his third season leading the Eagle Men's Basketball program after spending seven seasons as an assistant women's coach at Grand Canyon University
 
The Series (NCAA Division II Era)

11/28/97	Bethany	L, 60-62
All-Time: OC Leads 13-12
NCAA Era: OC Leads 1-0
in Weatherford: NA
in Edmond: First Meeting

 
SWOSU Notes
- Despite back-to-back offensive outings with less than 80 points, the Bulldogs remain ranked third in the conference with a scoring offense of 85.0 points per game
- Four players scored better than 13 points in SWOSU's loss to Southeastern on Saturday, led by Tre Evans, who totaled 17 points in addition to six rebounds and six assists
- Evans leads the Great American Conference in scoring with 24.2 points per game and he's third in assists with 5.6 per game
- The Bulldogs are improved offensively, where they are third in the GAC by shooting 48.5% from the field, but ninth from beyond the arc at 35.6%
- SWOSU shot a season-low 23.3% (7-for-30) from three-point range against Southeastern, making just 2-of-17 attempts in the second half of that game
- Nick Shoemaker missed his lone three point attempt against SE, leaving him 10 three's shy of passing former teammate Markeise Champion (170, 2015-17) for second place in SWOSU's NCAA Division II era
- Jamar Sandifer bounced back from his season-low in scoring with 14 points on Saturday, leaving him second on the team with 15.5 points per game for the year
- Marcus Thomas is SWOSU's third-leading scorer at 11.2 points per game while shooting an efficient 51.6% (16-of-31) from down town
- Luke Lewallen entered the starting lineup at Southeastern for the first time this season, finishing with seven points and four rebounds in 18 minutes of action
- Cheikh Fall was 6-of-10 from the field, finishing one point off his season high with 13 points while grabbing a season-best eight rebounds against Southeastern
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU welcomes their biggest challenge to date on Saturday as No. 5/6-ranked Southern Nazarene visits the Pioneer Cellular Event Center at 3:00 pm
- The Bulldogs are off all next week before closing out the first semester on Saturday (Dec. 15) by hosting Oklahoma Baptist