Game Notes (PDF)

Date: January 30, 2021
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: St. Charles, MO 

Bolivar, Mo. - Saturday's matchup against Lindenwood (6-7, 6-7 GLVC) concludes SBU's (11-2, 11-2 GLVC) three-game road trip and will wrap up the season series against the Lions. Earlier this season, SBU defeated LWU 87-73 in Bolivar.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats kept the train rolling Thursday evening, extending their winning streak to five in a row. Earlier this year, the team won five in a row as well before falling to Southern Indiana. Their second loss on the year came against Missouri-St. Louis who has spent time in the top 25. This season has featured a few historic wins, one of those being Tuesday's win at Drury.

Defense remains strong for the Bearcats, as they still stand first in the conference in scoring defense (65.9 ppg) and field goal % defense (38.7%). They rank 2nd in the GLVC in a number of categories, including scoring margin (+12.3), rebounding offense (35.8), rebounding defense (29.9), and three point field goal % defense (31.2%). Quinn Nelson continues to climb in the scoring category, now ranking 10th with 16.0 ppg. He also ranks 8th in field goal % at 55.2%. Brady Smith is averaging 15.2 ppg and a team-high 5.4 rebounds per contest. In the assists category, Mitch Ganote ranks 4th with 4.38 apg, and Brady Smith sits 8th overall at 3.92 apg.

The Bearcats are coming off their best season in program history since 2009-10. Last year, the Bearcats finished 20-9 (13-7 GLVC). In the regular season rankings, the Bearcats finished fourth out of the sixteen GLVC teams. They upset #12 Southern Indiana and #1 Bellarmine both on the road, and defeated Drury at home for the first time in eight years. Eight players return from last year's roster. Second team All-GLVC honoree Brady Smith returns for his senior campaign. Two other starters from last season also return in juniors Quinn Nelson and Joe Miller. Sophomore Mitch Ganote was SBU's sixth man last season, and will play quite a bit during the 2020-21 season. The Bearcats will see several other new faces make an impact as well.

SCOUTING THE LIONS
The Lindenwood Lions (St. Charles, MO) have been struggling since the first meeting between the teams. Prior to that first meeting, LWU was 4-2. Since that time, the Lions have gone 2-5 for a record of 6-7 on the year. The Lions bounced back after falling to SBU, defeating Illinois Springfield at home, but then fell to Lewis and UIS on the road. Lindenwood was scheduled to face #10 Truman State last Thursday, but that game got postponed. Most recently, the Lions fell to William Jewell at Liberty, and surrendered a 64-point second half to the Rockhurst Hawks, losing that game 76-95. The team is averaging 79.7 ppg, 2nd in the conference and just above SBU's 78.2 ppg. TJ Crockett remains at the top of the conference in scoring, averaging 26.2 ppg; 6.2 more ppg than the second place scorer.

THE COACHES
SBU head coach Clark Sheehy begins his seventh season on the SBU bench after compiling an 82-92 (45-73 conf.) record while at SBU. Coach Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 264-198 across fifteen seasons while coaching six different All-Americans and over 40 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball.

Kyle Gerdeman begins just his second season at Lindenwood University. Gerdeman joined the Lions as they transitioned from the MIAA to the GLVC in 2019-20. Last year, Gerdeman led the Lions to a 12-16 (6-14 GLVC) record. Previoiusly, Gerdeman spent 7 seasons at Central Michigan, posting a 121-108 record.

ALL-TIME SERIES
After defeating the Lions at home earlier this month, SBU takes an 8-7 series lead over LWU. The Bearcats have won the past three meetings, one of those being from the 2018-19 MIAA Tournament. In this year's first matchup, Brady Smith scored 20 and Quinn Nelson and Mitch Ganote both dropped 17 to lead SBU to an 87-73 victory. SBU out-rebounded LWU 39-27 and held the Lions to 36.1% shooting from the field.