Thursday, Feb. 27 – SWOSU at East Central – 7:30 pm

Ada, Okla. (Kerr Activities Center)

Saturday, March 1 – SWOSU vs Southern Nazarene – 3:00 pm

Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Event Center)

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SWOSU Men's Basketball (14-11, 11-9 GAC) is the hottest team in the GAC after winning its last six games, going from the outside looking into the GAC Tournament to locking a spot in next week's trip to Fort Smith in the month of February. 

They will travel to Ada to face ECU on Thursday, a team they beat 67-66 in their only overtime game of the year. On Saturday, they will close out the regular season against SNU, who currently is the top seed in the GAC but has suffered four straight losses coming into this week's action.

SWOSU's offense has found its groove, averaging 80 points per game over the current six-game win streak, almost 12 points higher than the 68.2 points they were averaging before the win streak began.

Four Bulldogs reach double-digit scoring in a balanced offensive attack. Tobias Roland leads the way with 13.5 points per game, followed by Eli Al-Debaran (12.3 ppg), MJ Warrior (11.7 ppg), and Elijah Williams (10.9 ppg). Warrior dishes out 5.4 assists per game, which is top two in the GAC, while his 1.6 steals per game puts him inside the top 10 in the conference. SWOSU brings in the best three-point defense in the league, only allowing teams to shoot 31.7% from the deep ball on over 21 attempts per game.

East Central (10-16, 7-13 GAC) sits in 11th place in the conference, outside of the GAC tournament teams. They are coming off two losses last week by a combined 63 points to Harding and Arkansas Tech. Nikk Williams (12.8 ppg), Godsgift Ezedinma (10.6 ppg), and Mark Rucha (10.5 ppg) all notch 10+ points for the Tigers.

ECU has the tenth-ranked scoring offense at 70.3 PPG on 45.3% shooting (sixth in GAC). Their defense holds teams to just 42.7% shooting, which is the lowest in the conference. The Tigers grab only 7.6 offensive rebounds per game, the lowest mark in the league.

Dating back to 1998, the Dawgs and Tigers have met 56 times, with the Bulldogs bringing home a 31-25 advantage. However, in Ada, the record falls to 16-12 in favor of the home team.

Southern Nazarene (18-6, 15-5 GAC) will face Northwestern Thursday at home before traveling to face SWOSU in the season finale. The Crimson Storm found themselves as high as No. 12 in the national polls before four straight losses put a stain on the end of their season. Still, with two games left, they control their own destiny for the GAC regular season championship.

Stevie Strong brings in a team-high 18.2 points per game, which puts him sixth in the GAC. Baron Bracey (13.7 ppg) and Tracy Godfrey Jr. (10.1 ppg) round out their top three scoring options. Strong averages 5.3 assists per game, which is third, right behind SWOSU's MJ Warrior.

SNU has the second-best margin at +6.6, just behind Ouachita Baptist. They allow the least rebounds to opposing teams at just 31.2 per game.

SWOSU has had trouble getting past SNU, as since 2012, the Dawgs are 8-20 against the Crimson Storm. They are 4-9 inside Weatherford.