Game Notes (PDF)

Date: February 20, 2020
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Bolivar, MO 

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (18-6, 11-5 GLVC) returns home to play Quincy for one home game before hitting the road one last time this season.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
After going 8-2 in the month of January with huge wins against #12 Southern Indiana, #1 Bellarmine, and Drury, the Bearcats are off to a 3-2 start in February. SBU's 5 conference losses have come against Drury, #23 Missouri-St. Louis who is now ranked #20, Indianapolis who first upset #1 Bellarmine, Lewis who won the GLVC regular season last year, and Rockhurst on the road. Quinn Nelson and Damian Prgomet have each been earned GLVC Players of the week this season. The team leads the conference in blocked shots, averaging 3.75 blocks per game.

In their most recent competition, SBU fell to a very good Rockhurst team on the road. The Bearcats out-played the Hawks in nearly every category besides free throws. Rockhurst shot 28-34 while SBU was just 11- 20 from the line. Joe Miller was a perfect 5-5 from the field, 2-2 from three, with 4 rebounds and 13 points. Damian Prgomet nearly had another doubledouble with 13 points and 9 rebounds.

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 HAWKS
The Quincy Hawks (Quincy, IL) come into Thursday's matchup with a 12-12 (6-10 GLVC) record. In their conference opener, the Hawks fell to Truman State 59-69 in Kirksville. The team started to warm up mid January, picking up 4 straight conference wins against Maryville, Missouri S&T, Lewis, and Illinois Springfield. At the beginning of February, Quincy fell in overtime to Rockhurst, but upset #13 Missouri-St. Louis. The Hawks are currently on a three game losing streak, losing to Lindenwood, Indianapolis, and Bellarmine by combined scores of 190-241. Leading the Hawks is Tanner Stuckman, averaging 19.0 points per game (4th in GLVC) and 6.0 rebounds. Austin Downing is also averaging double digits with 12.9 points per game and has 89 assists this season.

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.

Ryan Hellenthal enters his third season as the head coach for Quincy. He also spent one season as an assistant coach. In his season as an assistant, the Hawks had one of their most successful season in program history, going 25-7. Last season, Quincy finished 9-19 (3-15 GLVC), ending the season on a 6 game losing streak.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The all-time series is tied 3-3 with the last matchup taking place in 2007-08.