Game Notes (PDF)

Date: February 29, 2020
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Bolivar, MO 

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (19-8, 12-7 GLVC) wraps up their regular season Saturday afternoon, playing host to the William Jewell Cardinals on senior day. 

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 4-4 record in February. SBU's 6 conference losses have come against Drury, #23 Missouri-St. Louis who is now ranked #18, Indianapolis who first upset #1 Bellarmine, Lewis who won the GLVC regular season last year, Rockhurst and Truman State 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 3.74 blocks per game.

In their most recent competition, SBU fell to Rockhurst, suffering their first back-to-back loss of the season. Prior to Thursday, the Bearcats were 6-0 following a loss. The senior duo of Damian Prgomet and Godfrey Rolle had 15 points each, Prgomet with the team's only block. Mitch Ganote led in rebounds (10) and Brady Smith led in assists (7).

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 CARDINALS
The William Jewell Cardinals (Liberty, MO) come into Saturday's matchup with a 10-17 (5-14 GLVC) record. WJC started the year very hot, beating Central Oklahoma and Central Missouri who handed #1 Northwest Missouri their only loss of the year. However, the next game they fell to #1 ranked Northwest Missouri. In their first conference game, the Cardinals fell to Rockhurst 48-79. They picked up their first GLVC win over Quincy in early January, 86-74. Their other conference wins include Maryville, Missouri S&T, #12 Bellarmine, and Lindenwood. On Saturday, the Cardinals fell to Drury, 68-85. Eysan Wiley leads the team with 16.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest, leading the GLVC. The teams met earlier this season, where SBU took home the W, 76-65.

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.

Chris McCabe enters his first season as the head coach for the Cardinals, taking the position on April 29, 2019. McCabe is making the jump from the high school level, where he coached Liberty North HS for 9 seasons. In that span, McCabe led the team to a 158-94 record, with 8 district final appearances.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bearcats lead the all-time series 5-4 thanks to their win in Liberty, MO earlier this year. In that competition, Damian Prgomet had a double-double, scoring 14 points with 11 rebounds. Quinn Nelson contributed 16 points, and Godfrey Rolle added 15 in the 76-65 victory.