Game Notes

Date: February 1, 2020
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Bolivar, MO 

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (15-4, 8-3 GLVC) will host Missouri S&T for their second competition this season, beating Maryville 76-61 on Thursday.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats went 8-2 in the month of January, with huge wins against #12 Southern Indiana, #1 Bellarmine, and Drury. The two losses came against #23 Missouri-St. Louis who is now ranked #14, and Indianapolis who first upset #1 Bellarmine. Quinn Nelson and Damian Prgomet have each been earned GLVC Players of the week this season. The team currently ranks 2nd in the conference in field goal percentage at .494, and 4th in three point field goal percentage at .391.

In their most recent competition, SBU topped Maryville for the second time this season, scoring 47 points in the second half. The team shot 59.6% from the field, their highest this season. Brady Smith led with 17 points, contributing 4 rebounds and 2 blocks as well. Damian Prgomet also had 15 points and 7 rebounds, and Quinn Nelson added 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

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 MINERS
The Missouri S&T Miners (Rolla, MO) head into Saturday's competition with a 4-13 (2-9 GLVC) record. They began the year with two losses to MIAA schools in Lincoln and Missouri Western, finally picking up their first win against Lindenwood-Belleville. Both of their conference wins came against Maryville, 72-59 and 72-61. The Miners have lost three in a row, most recently to Drury 62-81. Dulan Scott is leading the team in scoring, averaging 14.4 points per game. CJ Hedgepeth is right behind him with 12.9, and has 51 assists this season. In the last competition, Hedgepeth put up 25 points with 5 three pointers and 6 rebounds. Scott also had 17 points and 5 assists.

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 40 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball.

Bill Walker begins his first year on the S&T bench after spending the previous 5 seasons as the head coach of the University of Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars, who is also in the GLVC. Last season, Walker led UIS to a 14- 14 (7-11 GLVC) record, failing to make the conference tournament. He led the team to a nearly identical record the season prior to that.

ALL-TIME SERIES
SBU leads the series 30-19. In the last competition, Hedgepeth put up 25 points with 5 three pointers and 6 rebounds. Scott also had 17 points and 5 assists. For SBU, Quinn Nelson dropped 20 points on 7-10 shooting. The other four starters also hit double digit points.