Game Notes

Date: January 11, 2020
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Bolivar, Mo. 

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (10-2, 3-1 GLVC) will host the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons Saturday afternoon for Alumni Day after defeating Lindenwood 84-80 on Thursday.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats look to keep their momentum rolling after starting 10-2 on the season. SBU is 3-1 in conference play, falling early in the year to Drury in a close game, but beating #12 Southern Indiana. Damian Prgomet was recently named GLVC Player of the Week. He ranks 3rd in blocks in SBU history, and currently holds the highest field goal percentage in SBU history. Heading into Saturday's game, all five SBU starters are averaging 10+ points per game.

In their most recent competition, the Bearcats topped Lindenwood 84-80. Damian Prgomet snagged his 3rd double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Joe Miller exploded for 22 points on 9-10 shooting from the field and 4-4 from three point range. Brady Smith added 17 points, and Godfrey Rolle contributed with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. The team shot 55.9% from the field and 42.9% from three.

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 TRITONS
The University of Missouri-St. Louis Tritons (St. Louis, MO) come into Saturday's matchup with a record of 13-1 (4-0 GLVC) and a #23 national ranking. The Tritons lost their second game of the season to Walsh in Tiffin, Ohio 58-76, but they haven't lost since. Their 12-game winning streak includes 4 conference wins, beating Lindenwood, Maryville, Missouri S&T, and most recently Drury. On Thursday evening, UMSL defeated Drury 72-70, squeezing out the win thanks to 24 points from Yaakema Rose and 18 points from Jason Towery. The Tritons rank 1st in the GLVC in scoring defense, allowing a mere 57.8 points per contest. The also have the second largest scoring margin at +19.9.

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.

Bob Sundvold begins his seventh season as the head coach for the Tritons. In his 14 years as a head coach at the collegiate level, Sundvold holds a 216-187 record. Last season, Sundvold led the Tritons to a 20-9 (11-7 GLVC) finish.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Southwest Baptist leads the all-time series against UMSL 12-10, with the last matchup taking place in 1995-96.