Game Notes

Date: December 30, 2021
Time: 5:00 PM
Location: Bolivar, MO 

Bolivar, Mo. - The Bearcats look to continue their six-game winning streak with a matchup against Tabor College. That matchup marks the last non-conference contest of the season, and the final game of 2021.

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 strong 8-1 start, including a perfect 3-0 record against GLVC opponents. After beginning the year 2-0, the team suffered their only loss to MIAA foe MSSU 87-85 in overtime. Since that contest, SBU has won 6 straight, three of those being conference foes. Most recently, the team handled Williams Baptist 97-72, shooting 72.4% from the field and 64.3% from three in the second half. Quinn Nelson leads the team with 127 points (14.1 ppg) this year, making 30 three pointers on 46.2% shooting from beyond the arc. He broke SBU's career three point field goals record earlier this year. SBU's four other starters are all shooting better than 50% from the field. Jalil Beaubrun and RJ Crawford are both averaging 12.6 ppg, shooting 53.9% and 55.7% respectively. Beaubrun has also recorded a GLVC-leading 21 blocks. Mitch Ganote continues to do it all with 12.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 5.4 apg, and 2.3 spg. He leads the conference with 49 assists and an outstanding 3.06 assistturnover ratio. He is also third in steals and fifth in rebounds.

SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS
The Tabor College Blue Jays enter Thursday's competition with a 4-8 (2-7 KCAC) record. They opened the year with a 61- 57 victory over College of the Ozarks. Their other three wins were dispersed throughout the season, defeating Langston University 93-65, Sterling College 75-52, and Avila University 76-75. Most recently, Tabor fell to Bethany College 65-51 and Bethel College 84-51. Bruno Araujo leads the Blue Jays with 7.8 rebounds per contest and is third with 6.8 points per game. Nashom Carter and Montel Stewart both lead the team with 7.7 points per game, Stewart shooting 55.8% from the field.

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.

Micah Ratzlaff has been the head coach of the Blue Jays since 2006, leading the team to a 220-158 (196-117 KCAC) record in that stretch. He began his playing career at Oral Roberts University, but transferred to Tabor for his final two years, selected as First Team All-Conference.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The all-time series is tied at 1-1, with SBU winning the last competition in 2019, 76-48. Quinn Nelson went off for 20 points on 7-9 shooting from the field. Joe Miller also added 16 points and 4 rebounds.