Setting the Scene
• Bulldog Men's Basketball is bound for Shawnee on Saturday to play their final game of 2019 against Oklahoma Baptist
• SWOSU has had the week off for finals following an 86-72 defeat against Southern Nazarene last Saturday, which dropped the Dawgs to 5-4 on the year and 1-2 in Great American Conference play
• The Bulldogs have already matched their win total from the entire 2018-19 season with five victories prior to the semester break
• Oklahoma Baptist swept the season series against SWOSU last season, including an 83-69 victory in Shawnee, and the Bisons have won the last three meetings in the series after the Bulldogs won the first three contests between the schools as GAC foes
• The Bulldogs are led by sophomore guard Damion Thornton, a previous GAC Player of the Week who is averaging 19.0 points per game and coming off a career-best 29-point performance against SNU
 
About the Opponent
Oklahoma Baptist (4-3, 1-2 GAC)
• After starting the season 3-0 with a road win over then-#24 Tarleton State, OBU has dropped three of their last four with the lone win over Northwestern Oklahoma State
• OBU is 3-0 at the Noble Complex this season with wins over Nebraska-Kearney, Wayne State and NWOSU by an average of 16.0 points per game
• The Bison rank third in the conference with an average of 10.0 made three-pointers per game which is part of an offensive attack putting up 79.3 points on average
• OBU features a very balanced offensive attack with nine players averaging 6.0 points per game per better, led by Rashad Lewis (12.4) and Jaquan Simms (11.1)
• Jason Eaker is in his second season as the Bison head coach, having guided OBU to a third-place finish in the GAC and a spot in the GAC Tournament semifinals last season
 
SWOSU Notes
• Damion Thornton had the highest-scoring game of the year by a SWOSU player, erupting for 29 points on 8-14 shooting from the field while hitting all 11 of his attempts from the free throw line against SNU
• Thornton is the fifth-leading scorer in the conference with 19.0 points per game, including four 20-point games in nine outings this season
• The Bulldogs continue to lead the conference in turnover margin, forcing 19.2 turnovers per game while committing just 13.4 for a +5.8 margin
• Making his first start of the season, Chris Braggs, Jr. went for 11 points and four rebounds against SNU marking his third straight game to reach double figures in scoring
• Jaylan Williams is second on the team with 9.3 points per game this season, but he's coming off a season-low three-point performance on 1-7 shooting last Saturday
• Marquis Johnson returned to the lineup against SNU after missing three games, coming off the bench to score nine points to go along with two rebounds, two assists and three steals in 26 minutes of action
• SWOSU is averaging 12.0 assists per game, getting 4.3 per game from Johnson and 2.8 on average from Kamden Gipson
• Thornton leads the Bulldogs with 19 steals this season while Johnson, Gipson and Dominique Primer have 13 apiece, helping the Dawgs rank third in the conference with an average of 9.0 steals per game
• Anthony Love reached double figures in scoring for the third time this season with 10 points against SNU, which raised his average fo 6.9 points per game
 
Looking Ahead
• SWOSU will ring in the new year in Arkansas, facing Arkansas-Monticello (Jan. 2) and Southern Arkansas (Jan. 4) in the first games of 2020
• The next home games for the Bulldogs will come against another pair of cross-state conference rivals in Ouachita (Jan. 9) and Henderson State (Jan. 11)