Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University men's basketball team is set to open the 2025-26 season this weekend, November 14–15, in Elsah, Illinois. They will be led by Aaron Niven in his third season at the helm. He is joined on the bench by Derald Henderson and Kevin Miranda. The Bearcats enter the year looking to make strides every week seeking a return to the GLVC tournament.

The Bearcats return a healthy amount of strong players as well as bringing in some new talent to spice up the court. One of those is third leading scorer from last year, Jevin Sullivan who averaged 10.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG. Another strong player is sophomore Barron Silsby, who shot 44.4% off 99 attempts last season. Two other minute players include Brandon Moore and Luke Ogle, as well tall center Sasha Glushkov looks to make his return to the lineup. 

Adding to the length of the floor is junior guard transfer Zac Reedus who can both defend and score. Another Junior College transfer is Lachie McKain from Australia. Others likely to see minutes at the beginning of the year is redshirt freshman, Nelson Shinkle, returning to SBU for his second season and freshman Leo Gayman out of Kansas City, Missouri.

The Bearcats will open the season against Thomas More University on Friday at 4:00 p.m. The Saints made the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2022 and have quickly found success, finishing last season with a 19-11 overall record and a 12-8 mark in the G-MAC. Thomas More advanced to the G-MAC Tournament Finals and will start the year with three consecutive games against GLVC opponents. With less than a 24 hour turnaround, the Bearcats will take on Ohio Dominican University at 1:00 p.m. The Panthers had a 10-18 record last year with an 0-1 record against the GLVC, as they fell to the GLVC Champions of Missouri S&T.

Both games will be streamed live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@prin_athletics/streams