Game Notes

Date: January 6, 2022
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Quincy, IL

Quincy, Ill. - The Bearcats return to GLVC action Thursday evening following a month of non-conference play. Thursday's contest at Quincy will be the team's first road competition since December 2.

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 9-1 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 7 straight, three of those being conference foes. Most recently, the team handled Tabor College, leading 33-6 in the first 10 minutes of the first half. They went on to win 92-47. Quinn Nelson leads the team with 135 points (13.5 ppg) this year, making 30 three pointers on 45.5% 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 has looked solid at the 5 spot, averaging 13.0 ppg with 45 boards and 21 blocks. RJ Crawford has also looked sharp with 12.4 ppg, 43 rebounds, and 15 three's. 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 assist-turnover ratio. He is also third in steals and fifth in rebounds.

SCOUTING THE HAWKS
The Quincy Hawks enter Thursday's competition with an 8-6 (1-3 GLVC) record so far this year. In an exhibition prior to the start of the season, Quincy upset NCAA Division I SIUE on their court. They started 4-2 against non-conference opponents before dropping a pair of GLVC contests to Lindenwood 87-91 and Missouri-St. Louis 54-64. A few games later, the Hawks were on the wrong side of an upset, falling to NAIA Missouri Valley 81-84. Most recently, Quincy picked up their first GLVC win against Maryville, and fell in the final seconds to nationally ranked Truman State. Malik Hardmon is the team leader with 207 points (17.3 ppg), 75 rebounds, and 11 blocks. Nate Shockey is also a major impact.

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.

Ryan Hellenthal enters his fifth year on the Hawks bench. Prior to taking the head coaching position, Hellenthal served as an assistant for Quincy during one of the program's most successful seasons. From 2014- 16, Hellenthal served as an assistant at Central Missouri.

ALL-TIME SERIES
SBU leads the all-time series 5-3, including a 2-0 record since joining the conference two years ago. Last season, the Bearcats defeated the Hawks 81-69 towards the end of the season.