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Date: February 1, 2018
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Bolivar, Mo. (Meyer Sports Center)

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (11-9, 5-6 MIAA) hosts a set of conference home games this week, beginning with the Northeastern State Riverhawks (6-14, 2-9 MIAA) on Thursday Night.

Previewing the Bearcats
The Bearcats sport a 11-9 (5-6 MIAA) record in the 2017-18 season. They snapped their three game losing streak on Sunday when they defeated Emporia State in dramatic fashion, 87-80 in double overtime. SBU is paced by senior forward Logan Hovey who averages a team high and third best in the MIAA conference 18.5 points per game and fifth best 7.7 rebounds per game. Marlon Alcindor, who's coming off a career high 27 points, averages double figures with 12.6 points per game. Chris Rossow leads the team in assists with 4.3 a game, and Damian Prgometchips in 7.7 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. As a team, the Bearcats are scoring 77.2 points per game, which is eighth best in the MIAA conference, and shoot a second best in the MIAA and 12th best in the NCAA 41.4% from behind the arc while giving up 73.1 points per game on 41.9% shooting from opponents. The 41.9 field goal percentage defense ranks third in the MIAA.

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Previewing the Riverhawks
Northeastern State comes into the game with a 6-14 (2-9 MIAA) record and in 13th place in the MIAA standings. Their last time the Riverhawks fell to Pitt State by a 96-82 final score. Graduate transfer Jamir Andrews spearheads the Riverhawks scoring attack with a team leading 15.2 points per game on 41.9% from the floor and 39.4% on threes. Montre Williams is fourth on the team in scoring with 8.5 points per game but leads the team with 3.5 assists per game. Gordan Hill collects the most rebounds with 5.8 per game. As a team, the Riverhawks are second to last in the conference in both scoring offense and scoring defense. They only score 71.1 points per game and allow 76.9 each game. 

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Coaching Matchup
SBU head coach Clark Sheehy is in his fourth season on the SBU bench, holding a 47-59 (24-47 MIAA) record while at SBU. Coach Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 228-160 across twelve seasons while coaching six different All-Americans and over 20 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball. In their last 16 games, Sheehy has guided SBU to a 10-6 record. 

Mark Downey is in his first year guiding the Riverhawks men's basketball program. Downey carries a 207-111 overall head coaching record with four NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. Downey was previoisly the top assistant for NCAA Division I Fort Wayne before coming to Northeastern State. 

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All-Time Series
Northeastern State has the edge in the all time series over SBU, winning 12 of the 18 matchups between the two schools. These two teams last met earlier this in December. SBU dominated the game and came away with a 92-69 victory.

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Bearcats Last Outing
(1/28/18) - Emporia, Ks. - The Bearcats and Hornets played two extra frames on Sunday afternoon but in the end, it was Southwest Baptist coming out victorious over Emporia State by a final score of 87-80. The win snaps a three game losing skid for the Bearcats as they improve to 11-9 (5-6 MIAA). Meanwhile, the loss extends the Hornets losing streak to five games, making their record 8-12 (3-8 MIAA). 

Marlon Alcindor and Chris Rossow had career days to lead the Bearcats. Alcindor poured in 27 points, shooting 60% from the field (9-15), 50% (3-6) from downtown, and a perfect 100% (6-6) from the stripe. Rossow filled up the stat sheet with a career best 11 assists to go along with 8 points and 7 rebounds. Logan Hovey added another double double on the year with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Kai Woodfall and Damian Prgomet chipped in 12 points and 10 points as well in the winning effort. For the game, SBU shot 49.2% (30-61), 30.4% (7-23) on threes, and converted an outstanding 90.2% (20-22) on free throws. Points in the paint favored SBU by a 40 to 30 margin. Ball movement was excellent as well as the Bearcats assisted on 23 of their 30 made field goals. Emporia State did have the edge on the boards but only by one, 42 to 41. 

In the first three minutes of game action, the Hornets got out to a quick 7-2 lead. The Bearcats responded with an 8-0 spurt to go up 10-7. At the 12:39 mark, the game was 13-12 SBU. Over the next nine minutes, SBU exploded for 21-3 run to make it 34-15. The run was backed by a barrage of threes and layups from a host of Bearcats. Emporia would add a few buckets to make 36-23 in favor of SBU at the half.

To start the second half, SBU struggled to score and Emporia State took advantage. The Hornets utilized a 15-4 run of their own to make the SBU advantage just two. At the 8:50 mark, Prgomet extended the lead back to 49-43. Emporia State would rip off another 12-2 run though to take the lead, 55-51, with 5:26 left. With 3:57 to go, the score was 61-55 in favor of the Hornets, but SBU held them scoreless for the final four minutes and scored the last six points to send the game into overtime. 

The two teams were neck and neck in the first overtime with each team trading baskets and holding miniscule leads. The largest lead any team had was Emporia State's three point lead, 68-65, with 1:26 remaining. Hovey put the Bearcats on top, 69-68, on two free throws with 40 seconds left. Woodfall then sank two more free throws to make it 71-68 with 2 seconds on the clock. On the ensuing inbounds, Brandon Hall for the Hornets heaved a half court shot from the right side of the floor that banked in as the buzzer sounded. The play was reviewed and the basket was good, sending the game into a second overtime.

In the second overtime, Hovey helped the Bearcats to a 75-73 advantage on two free throws. Emporia State would tie the game immediately at 75 but two more free throws by Woodfall and a layup from Alcindor handed SBU a 79-75 lead. The Hornets would draw within one at 81-80. However, SBU ended the game on a 6-0 run to come away with the 87-80 double overtime win.

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Riverhawks Last Outing
(1/27/18) - Tahlequah, Ok. – Jamir Andrews' sixth 20-point game was not enough for the RiverHawks who could not slow down Pittsburg State's hot shooting at the arc to fall 96-82 on Saturday afternoon at the NSU Event Center.  The Gorillas (13-8, 6-6 MIAA) shot 57.7 percent from three-point range knocking down 15 of their 26 attempts on NSU (6-14, 2-9 MIAA).
 
Andrews finished the contest with 23 points for the RiverHawks, Trent Cantrell was three points short of a career high with 13, and Lucas Antunez added 12 off the bench.
 
Despite the strong shooting game by Pitt State, rebounds and second chance points kept the RiverHawks in the ballgame.   NSU out-rebounded the Gorillas by 11 with 35 and on the offensive glass; the RiverHawks dominated 14-to-2.   Gordon Hill headlined the RiverHawks by matching his career mark with ten and NSU was up 16-to-2 on second chance points.
 
In the first half, Northeastern State shot the ball near 50 percent, but they could not keep pace with the Gorillas who dropped ten three-pointers to take a 54-40 advantage into the locker room.  Pitt State had three in double figures and were over 60 percent from the field and at the arc.
 
The RiverHawks pulled themselves back into the contest with an 11-1 run on the Gorillas that was spurred by nine points from Andrews.  With 13:08 left on the clock the RiverHawks cut the PSU lead from 16 down to a 59-55 ballgame.   The Gorillas returned the favor on NSU and out-scored them 13-2 in the next three minutes to take a 15-point (72-57) advantage.
 
Northeastern State mounted one last rally in the closing minutes and managed to get back within six (80-74) following a Hill free throw with 4:24 left.  A pair of steals by Pitt State in the next minute allowed them to go on a quick 6-0 run to control the rest of the contest.

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