Game Notes

Date: November 19, 2019
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Bolivar, Mo. 

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (2-1, 0-0 GLVC) continues play in Bolivar after defeating the Ozark Christian Ambassadors 95-70 in their home opener. The Bearcats will play host to Hannibal-LaGrange on Tuesday, November 19 with tip-off set for 7:00 PM.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
In SBU's home opener vs Ozark Christian, all 5 starters finished with double digit points. Brady Smith led the way with 18 points on 7-12 field goals, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. Look for Smith to play well against his former school - Hannibal-LaGrange.

The Bearcats come into the 2019-20 season following an appearance in the MIAA Tournament last season. Finishing with a 13-15 (7-12 MIAA) regular season record, the Bearcats received the #10 seed in the conference tournament. In the first round, SBU edged out #7 Lindenwood 76-75, becoming the first #10 seed to win a game in the MIAA Tournament and picking up their first conference tournament win since 2006. Washburn put an end to SBU's run in the second round with a 77-58 final score. The Bearcats are now full-time member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference which consists of 16 teams. Lindenwood is also making the move from the MIAA to the GLVC. Three starters return for SBU, Godfrey Rolle, Damian Prgomet, and Quinn Nelson. In addition to those three starters, Tyler Williams and Lucas Brueggemann also return from last year's roster. This year's roster consists of 16 total players, 11 of those being new faces. The breakdown of the roster is 2 seniors, 5 juniors, 4 sophomores, and 5 freshmen. 

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
The Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans (Hannibal, MO) have begun the 2019-20 season with 1 win and 2 losses. Their 1 win came against Culver-Stockton College on November 7th, winning by just two points, 73-71. The Trojans recently played in an exhibition game against GLVC opponent Maryville University. Hannibal-LaGrange defeated Maryville by a score of 75-65 to push the Saints to 1-2 on the year. In that game, Ryan Ward scored 31 points for the Trojans, making 8 three pointers and snagging 11 rebounds. Out of the three games that have counted for HLG, Ryan Ward leads the team with 14.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. He also leads the team with 4 steals.

THE COACHES
SBU head coach Clark Sheehy begins his sixth season on the SBU bench after compiling a 62-83 (32-66 MIAA) record while at SBU. Coach Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 244-189 across fourteen seasons while coaching six different All-Americans and over 22 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball.

Jason Durst returns as the head coach for Hannibal-LaGrange, his 15th season in the position. Last season, Durst led HLG to a 19-13 (15-7 AMC) record last season. He has coached 10 AMC All-Conference players, 49 Academic All-Conference players, 7 Academic All-Americans, and 3 NAIA All-Americans.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bearcats have played against Hannibal-LaGrange 3 times, with SBU winning all three contests. In the 2017-18 season, SBU defeated HLG by a score of 89-66. Brady Smith was playing for the Trojans in that game, scoring 22 points on 8-13 shooting with 4 rebounds.