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Date: March 7, 2019
Time: 2:15 PM 
Location: Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO

Kansas City, Mo. – The Bearcats are coming off an upset victory over the Lindenwood Lions. Wednesday's 76-75 victory was the first MIAA Conference Tournament win for the men's basketball team since 2006. They hope to continue their strong play against the #2 seeded Washburn Ichabods Thursday afternoon.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Heading into the tournament, the Bearcats carried a 13-15 (7-12 MIAA) record on the 2018-19 season. Prior to the tournament seeding, SBU traveled to Lincoln, defeating the Blue Tigers 82-78 thanks to four Bearcats in double digits. Lindenwood defeated Southwest Baptist in their final regular season game, but SBU was able to avenge that loss, upsetting the Lions in round one of the MIAA tournament. The Bearcats are led by senior Karim Mouliom, averaging 14.6 points per game (19^th in MIAA), 8.3 rebounds per game (4^th in MIAA), and 1.5 blocks per game (1^st in MIAA). His 51.0% field goal percentage is also good for 8^th in the conference. Sophomore Chris Rossow leads SBU in minutes per game, assists, and steals. His 4.3 assists per contest ranks 7^th in the MIAA, and his 1.6 steals per game is good for 2^nd in the conference. As a team, the Bearcats have the 5^th best field goal percentage in the conference, shooting 47.4%. Another strength of the team is their ability to reach the free throw line. SBU is shooting 76.1% from the line, making the third most free throws in the MIAA. The team has also collected 102 blocks on the season, the most in the conference.
 
SCOUTING THE ICHABODS
The Ichabods come into the tournament with a 22-6 (15-4 MIAA) record. They secured the #2 seed in the conference tournament with a 93-90 win against Missouri Western on the Saturday before the tournament. Before that win, the Ichabods fell to #1 ranked Northwest Missouri State 49-72, their lowest scoring game of the year. Prior to that loss, Washburn was riding a 7 game winning streak, starting with Lindenwood and finishing with Lincoln. Two of their four conference losses come against Northwest, the other two coming against Lincoln and Missouri Southern. The losses against Lincoln and Missouri Southern were both decided by 2 points and 3 points respectively. Javion Blake, a senior from Olathe, KS leads the Ichabods in scoring, averaging 19.6 points per game (7^th in MIAA). Sophomore Tyler Geiman leads the MIAA in assists, averaging 5.4 each contest. As a team, the Ichabods rank 3^rd in field goal percentage, shooting 83.3%. They are also third in 3 point field goal percentage, shooting 38.5%. In the rebounding category, Washburn ranks 2^nd behind Missouri Southern, grabbing 38.2 rebounds per game.
 
THE COACHES
SBU head coach Clark Sheehy begins his fifth season on the SBU bench after compiling a 48-67 (25-54 MIAA) record while at SBU. Coach Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 230-173 across thirteen seasons while coaching six different All-Americans and over 21 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball.
 
Brett Ballard is entering his second season on the Washburn bench. Last season, he led the Ichabods to a 22-10 (14-5 MIAA) record. Prior to being hired at Washburn, Ballard was the assistant coach at Wake Forest from 2014-2017.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
The teams have met a total of 57 times, Washburn winning 40 and SBU winning 17. This season, the squads played each other twice, the Ichabods winning 97-72 in early December and 74-65 in February. In the first outing, Chris Rossow put up 21 points and 6 assists. Damian Prgomet also scored a large chunk, making 6 field goals and 5 free throws for 17 points. In the most recent meeting, Godfrey Rolle and Karim Mouliom did most of the scoring, putting up 18 and 17 points respectively. Javion Blake is averaging 27.5 points per game against the Bearcats in their two outings.