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SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
MULERIDERS
8-11 (6-7 GAC)
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SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
BULLDOGS
5-13 (2-10 GAC)
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NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
RANGERS
8-10 (4-9 GAC)
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TIPPING OFF
Southern Arkansas welcomes in a pair of Oklahoma schools this weekend beginning with Southwestern Oklahoma on Thursday, February 2, at 7:30 p.m. It will serve as Mulerider Athletics' annual Community Night as the department will honor Columbia County's "Hometown Educators." Northwestern Oklahoma comes to Magnolia on Saturday, February 4, at 3 p.m.
The Muleriders have won two of their past three games and are currently sitting in eighth-place in the Great American Conference standings. Northwestern Oklahoma is in ninth-place and currently two games back of Southern Arkansas in the win column. Southwestern Oklahoma is 11th in the league standings with an opportunity to climb back into the eighth and final tournament spot.
Live stats and live video will be available for both games this weekend with links located on the Men's Basketball schedule tab on muleriderathletics.com.
MULERIDER NEWS & NOTES
The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team enters play this weekend with a 8-11 overall record and a 6-7 mark in the GAC. The Muleriders have won two of their past three games including a 69-67 win at home against Ouachita and a critical 66-65 road win at Southeastern Oklahoma.
On the season, the Muleriders are averaging 72.6 points per game, which ranks ninth in the GAC. Defensively, the Muleriders rank fifth in scoring defense in the GAC at 73.3 points per game, and their -0.6 scoring margin ranks 10th in the league.
As a team, the Muleriders are shooting .424 (488-of-1,151) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .297 (95-of-320) from long range. From the free throw line, the Muleriders are shooting .648 (309-of-477). Their overall field goal percentage ranks 11th in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks 12th. At the charity stripe the Muleriders' percentage ranks 11th.
Individually, the Muleriders have two players who are averaging double figures in scoring with
CJ Elkins leading the team at 17.5 points per game. Elkins' scoring average ranks fifth in the GAC.
Snyder Cenecharles is next on the team at 10.4 ppg.
The leading rebounder on the team is
Denarious Lockhart with 8.5 rpg. Elkins is the top assist man on the team with an average of 2.5 assists per game.
COACH
The Muleriders are coached by
Andy Sharpe, who is in his fifth season at Southern Arkansas. In his time at SAU, Sharpe has amassed a 62-69 overall record.
Over the past two seasons, Sharpe has begun to turn the Muleriders into serious contenders in the GAC as SAU has won 24 conference games and have finished in the top half of the standings each year as well. Overall in the past two seasons, Sharpe has guided the Muleriders to a 32-25 record while also posting consecutive winning seasons for the first time since the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.
SCOUTING SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
Southwestern Oklahoma enters Thursday's meeting with SAU at 5-13 overall and 2-10 in Great American Conference play. The Bulldogs' pair of conference wins have come against Southern Arkansas (80-76) and Oklahoma Baptist (83-73). The Bulldogs have lost three of their past four games.
As a team, SWOSU is shooting .399 (442-of-1,108) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .321 (171-of-533) from long range. From the free throw line, the Bulldogs are shooting .646 (210-of-325). Their overall field goal percentage ranks 12th in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks 10th. At the charity stripe the Bulldogs' percentage ranks last.
So far this season, Southwestern Oklahoma is averaging 70.3 points per game offensively, and are allowing a 80.3 points per game defensively. Their points per game scoring ranks 12th in the GAC while their scoring defense per game ranks 11th in the league.
A pair of Bulldog players are averaging double-figures in scoring with Markeise Champion leading the team with 14.2 points per game. Devin Pugh is next and rounds out double figure scoring at 13.9 ppg.
Rashardd Harris is the team's leading rebounder at 5.2 rebounds per game. Champion is the team's top assist man at 2.5 assists per game.
COACH
The Bulldogs are coached by Bob Battisti, who is in his fourth season as the head coach at Southwestern Oklahoma. In his first three seasons, Battisti has amassed a 50-35 overall record, finishing above .500 and winning at least 16 games each year. Prior to his time at Southwestern, Battisti spent 21 seasons as the head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma where he guided the Rangers to a 374-265 record from 1986-87 to 2006-07.
LAST YEAR/LAST TIME OUT
Last time out, Southwestern Oklahoma topped SAU 80-76 inside the Pioneer Cellular Center to earn their first win of the season. The contest featured 17 lead changes and ten tied scores. Reshardd Harris picked up 21 points for the Bulldogs and
CJ Elkins delivered 16 points for SAU.
THE SERIES
This is the 14th meeting since the 1997-98 season between SAU and SWOSU with the Bulldogs holding an 9-4 lead in the series. Both teams are charter members of the GAC and play at least twice annually.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
The Northwestern Oklahoma men's basketball team enters play this weekend with a 8-10 overall record and an 4-9 mark in the Great American Conference. The Rangers lost their most-recent game at home against Harding, 66-57. That loss snapped an four-game streak of scoring 80 or more points.
On the season, the Rangers are averaging 76.0 points per game, which ranks sixth in the GAC. Defensively, NWOSU is allowing 75.0 points per game, ranking their scoring defense ninth in the GAC. Their +1.0 scoring margin ranks eighth in the league.
As a team, Northwestern Oklahoma is shooting .457 (466-of-1,020) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .334 (102-of-305) from long range. From the free throw line, the Rangers are shooting .721 (334-of-463). Their overall field goal percentage ranks sixth in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks eighth. At the charity stripe the Rangers' percentage ranks fourth.
Individually, three Rangers are averaging double figures with Adrian Motley leading the way at 19.6 points per game. Motley is second in the GAC in scoring. Cody Halverson is the next leading scorer at 10.6 points per game and Zachary Dumas is next with 10.4 points per game.
Motley is the team's leading rebounder at 7.8 boards per game. Brandon Green is the leading assist man on the team at 5.9 assists per game.
COACH
The Rangers are coached by Shawn Dirden, who is in his first season at Northwestern Oklahoma. Prior to becoming the head coach at NWOSU, Dirden spent two seasons as an assistant at the University of North Dakota. In those two seasons, Dirden helped lead UND to a 25-38 record.
LAST YEAR/LAST TIME OUT
Last time out, SAU used a dominant second half effort on both sides of the ball to surge ahead after a halftime deficit and eventually close out a 77-69 win on the road.
De'Sean Dockery led the Muleriders with 17 points, while Zachary Dumas dropped 23 points for the Rangers.
THE SERIES
This is the tenth meeting all-time between SAU and NWOSU. During that time, NWOSU holds a 5-4 series lead. The two teams have played at least twice a year since 2012-13 when NWOSU joined SAU as members of the Great American Conference.
