Game Notes | Game Coverage | Series History

PREVIEW

• SWOSU Men’s Basketball begins the 2020-21 season - their third under head coach Terry Evans - on Thursday at East Central before playing three of their next four games at home inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center

• The Bulldogs have been picked to finish tied for fourth in the Great American Conference’s Western Division during the upcoming season

• These are the first games for any SWOSU Athletic programs since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, which ended all spring competition and forced the suspension of play during the fall semester

• By order of the Great American Conference Council of Presidents, there will be no fans allowed in attendance for the first two weeks of games, which include contests from January 7-16

• The 2020-21 schedule will feature the Lady Bulldogs playing a divisional schedule for the first time in the GAC, with four games apiece scheduled against each of the other GAC Western Division opponents

SWOSU NOTES

• SWOSU returns five of their top six scorers from last season, with each of those players starting at least 11 games for the Bulldogs in 2019-20

• The headliner for the Bulldogs is reigning Great American Conference Newcomer of the Year Damion Thornton, who had six double-doubles as a sophomore while leading his team with 19.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game

• Jaylan Williams is back for his senior season after knocking down a team-high 78 three-pointers on 37.9% shooting from long range in his first season with the Bulldogs

• Chris Braggs, Jr., and Kamden Gipson are the longest-tenured members of the SWOSU Men’s Basketball program, now entering their third years with the Bulldogs

• Braggs started 11 games last season and averaged 8.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore in just less than 20 minutes a night

• Gipson is back for his junior season and set to man the point guard position, where he posted a stat line of 8.0 points and 1.9 assists per game last season

• SWOSU has three newcomers on the roster for the 2020-21 season, highlighted by Tauriawn Knight, a transfer from Odessa Junior College who started his collegiate career at NCAA Division I Utah State

• Bralyn James is slated to start in the backcourt for the Bulldogs as a senior, following a junior campaign in which he averaged 7.4 points per game

• Livingston Cleare and Phill Baker will add depth in the front court this season after Cleare led the Bulldogs with 20 blocked shots a year ago