Bolivar, Mo. – The SBU men's basketball team is set to host their longtime rivals, the Drury Panthers, this Thursday, January 26^th. This will be the 64^th time these two historic programs meet. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM in the Meyer Wellness Center.
 
For the first time since the 2018-19 season this will be the one and only meeting between these two rivaled programs in the regular season. When they Bearcats joined the GLVC in 2019, them and the Panthers were in the same conference forcing them to play twice a year. With only 13 teams in the conference this year, scheduling worked out to only one game between these two programs, reigniting the I-13 rivalry.
 
The Panther men are off to a slow start this season currently with a 7-12 record and 3-8 in the GLVC. The Panthers are one of the top shooting teams in the conference shooting over 37% from beyond the arc, 2^nd in the GLVC. The Panthers have big wins over Lewis University, McKendree, and William Jewell, whom the Bearcats just fell too.
 
The Bearcat men have just come off one of the toughest stretches in program history, playing 5 games in 10 days with four of them being on the road. Southwest Baptist went 2-3 during this time picking up wins against Quincy and a blowout over Rockhurst. During the five game stretch the Bearcat shot 46% from the field which is one percent shorter than what they are averaging for the season. Statistically, they are in the top 5 of most categories in the conference. SBU leads all teams in rebounding margin, and 10^th in the Nation.
 
Senior Mitch Ganote is on a roll for the Bearcats averaging 13 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 6.2 APG the last 5 games. He leads the entire conference in assists and is 5^th as a point guard. Ganote has 954 points, 496 rebounds, and 427 assists across his four years career as a Bearcat. Graduate student Quinn Nelson still leads the team in points averaging 14.6 per game, while shooting 47% from the field.