Game Notes (PDF)

Date: November 23, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Bolivar, MO 

Bolivar, Mo. - The Bearcats return home for their second contest in Bolivar after splitting their weekend tournament with Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State. Hannibal-LaGrange will visit the Meyer Sports Center on Tuesday.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats look to keep their momentum rolling, coming off a 15-6 regular season last year and a 20-8 regular season in 2019-20. Last season, SBU swept the GLVC West Division, earning the #3 seed in the conference tournament. Their 15 conference wins are the second most in a season in program history. Despite losing a key contributor from last year's squad, SBU returns 4 starters, including All-GLVC selections in Quinn Nelson and Mitch Ganote. Nelson led the team in scoring with 324 points (15.4 ppg), three-point field goals made (54, 4th in GLVC), free throw % (60-67, 89.6%, 2nd in GLVC), and minutes played (652, 31.0 per game). He also had 55 rebounds, 42 assists, 15 steals, and 7 blocks. Ganote was a threat all around, recording 4 double-doubles, 5 20-point games, and was 1 rebound shy of a triple-double against Rockhurst. Joe Miller and Jalil Beaubrun also return to the starting lineup and will make a big impact on the floor. A total of 9 Bearcats return from last year's roster, 6 new faces have been added.

The Bearcats are off to a 3-1 start this season, defeating Trevecca Nazarene in their season opener, Barclay College in their home opener, and splitting at the Missouri Southern Classic. Against the Lions, SBU erased a 14-point deficit in the second half, forcing overtime. MSSU took that game 87-85 in the extra period. Bouncing back, SBU downed Pittsburg State 81- 72 to close out the tournament. Mitch Ganote has two double-doubles this year and is averaging a double-double with 15.3 points and 10.8 rebounds this year. Scoring 61 points, he has shot 21-35 (60%) from the field and has 30 assists, 8 steals, and 4 blocks. Also with 61 points is Quinn Nelson. He has made 13 three's on 43.3% from deep. Jalil Beaubrun and Nico Aguirre have also broken the 50-point mark this year. Beaubrun has 22 reb. and 12 blocks as well. Aguirre has been hot from deep, making 10-17 (58.8%) from beyond the arc.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
The Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans enter Tuesday's contest with a 1-5 record to begin the year. They started out with 3 straight losses, the first coming against Culver-Stockton 74-59, the next to College of the Ozarks 81-76, and third to Missouri Valley 83-71. With a 68-60 victory over Baptist Bible College, the Trojans broke their losing streak. However, they have since lost 78-67 to Iowa Wesleyan and 70-50 to Culver-Stockton. Michael Hood leads the team with 77 points, averaging 12.8 per contest on 26-65 shooting from the field. Not far behind him is Grant Peters with 69 points, 11.5 per game, on 26-50 shooting. Hood also leads the team in rebounding, collecting 29 (4.8 per game) so far.

THE COACHES
SBU head coach Clark Sheehy begins his eighth season on the SBU bench after compiling an 97-99 (60-80 conf.) record while at SBU. Coach Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 279-205 across sixteen seasons while coaching six different All-Americans and over 40 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball.

Jason Durst has been a member of the HLGU athletic department since 2002, serving various roles. Since 2005, Durst has been the head men's basketball coach of the Trojans. Durst has been recognized as the AMC Coach of Character twice, 2012 and 2019. In his tenure, Durst has coached 11 All-Conf. and 54 Academic All-Conf. players.

ALL-TIME SERIES
SBU leads the all-time series 4-0, taking the last matchup in 2019-20 by a score of 89-72.