Bolivar, Mo-  The SBU Men's Basketball team returned home for the first time in 2022 as they took on the Rockhurst Hawks tonight. Normal key players and an unusual bench presence led the Bearcats to a 84-69 win over the Hawks. That win moves them to 12-3 (6-2 GLVC) on the season.
 
Both Jalil Beaubrun and Mitch Ganote had highlight reel games tonight against the Hawks. Beaubrun notched his second double-double of the season scoring 11 points and 12 rebounds. Mitch Ganote had a career high of 25 points tonight, going 8-12 from the field for 67% and 3-4 from beyond the arc for 75%.

A new spark for the Bearcats came off the bench tonight in Tyler Williams. Williams had played a total of 13 minutes against Division 2 teams all year but came in today grabbing his first career double-double. He shot 86% from the field, scoring 15 points and brought down 10 rebounds, four being offensive boards.
 
"I trust all of our guys because we work so hard all year. Tyler hasn't pouted or complained about his playing time this year and he was ready today and balled out."- Junior Guard Mitch Ganote
 
"Tyler gave us a great spark off the bench he had some critical rebounds, he had offensive rebounds, and had some easy baskets and we really needed those, he did a great job of bringing what we needed"- Head Coach Clark Sheehy
 
Tonight, was the first home conference game for the Bearcats since December 4^th, 2021, 50 days ago. These home cancellations have led to tonight's game being the first of four straight in the Meyer Center. They continue the homestand on Thursday, January 27^th (7:30pm) against Lindenwood, then Saturday, January 29^th (1:00pm) against Maryville. Finally, they have their first matchup against rival Drury on Monday January 31^st (6:00pm.)
 
"It's been a challenge and everybody has challenges, we don't want to make light of that but it has been a challenge for our group to get into a rhythm…We are hopeful we can get into a rhythm, we have three more games slated at home, and hopefully we can get some momentum and start playing with some confidence and get better as the year goes on"- Sheehy