Thursday, Jan. 23 – SWOSU at Northwestern – 7:30 pm

Alva, Okla. (Percefull Fieldhouse)

Saturday, Jan. 25 – SWOSU at Oklahoma Baptist – 7:30 pm

Shawnee, Okla. (Noble Complex)

COVERAGE LINKS

SWOSU Men's Basketball (8-7, 5-5 GAC) picked up a much-needed win against Arkansas-Monticello last Saturday inside the PEC. This week, they will be on the road against a couple of teams with .500 or better records, facing Northwestern on Thursday before Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday.
 
Eli Al-Debaran made his return to the court after missing over a month due to injury and made a big impact in the second half. In his 17 minutes, he scored 10 points and helped the Dawgs erase a nine-point deficit faced early in the second half.
 
NWOSU (8-8, 5-5 GAC) is coming into the game on a two-game win streak and has won their last three home games. Northwestern is led by two of the top three scorers in the conference: Cam McDowell (25.6 ppg, 1st in GAC, 3rd in the nation) and Max Alexander (22.6 ppg, 3rd in GAC, 14th in the nation) are the top-scoring duo in the nation that the Dawgs' defense will have to contain. Kabeya Tshibangu is the reigning GAC Defensive Player of the Week; he had a total of four steals and four blocks, along with 15 rebounds. As a team, they have a struggling defense, allowing 79.1 ppg, which puts them at 11th in the GAC.
 
The matchup between both teams has been a close affair, with NWOSU holding a slight edge in the 14-12 series lead since 2011. The last matchup went in favor of the Rangers, 82-74, in the GAC quarterfinals last year.
 
Oklahoma Baptist (11-5, 8-2 GAC) enters the week as the current two-seed in the GAC, just behind SNU who they will face on Thursday in Bethany. This includes a win over SWOSU just over a month ago, where the Dawgs suffered a 78-63 loss in Weatherford. The scoring is led by Terry Coner Jr., with 16.3 ppg; he also leads the team in assists (3.3 apg) and steals (2.2 spg) but has missed the past three games. Ricky Brown (10.6 ppg) and Daniel Ransom (10.1 ppg) are each double-digit scorers in their own right. As a team, they grab the most rebounds (38.8 rpg) and have the best rebound margin at +5.6 in the GAC. Where SWOSU can try to take an advantage is in the turnover margin; the Bison are 11th in the GAC with a -1.25 margin, compared to SWOSU's +1.33.
 
OBU holds the series in control with a record of 17-5 since 2016 and has beaten the Dawgs in their last five matchups, and nine out of the last ten.
 
The Bulldogs, who have the 10th-ranked offense in the GAC, will hopefully benefit from getting their third-leading scorer back in Al-Debaran (12.3 ppg). Tobias Roland still leads the way with his 14.9 ppg; MJ Warrior (12.5 ppg) leads SWOSU in assists per game (4.9, 2nd in GAC) and steals (1.9, 3rd in GAC). SWOSU's defense, which is ranked sixth in the conference, will have to step up big, having to deal with the best-scoring duo in the nation.