SHAWNEE, Okla. – SWOSU Men’s Basketball returns to postseason action as a seven seed and will take on two-seeded Oklahoma Baptist to open the Great American Conference Tournament.

Excluding last season’s unique COVID format, this is the first time the Bulldogs have been in the GAC Tournament since the 2015-16 season, and it is now the sixth time (or seventh if you count last season) since joining the GAC they have qualified.

The Dawgs will be tasked with battling an Oklahoma Baptist squad who has defeated them by scores of 79-67 and 67-62 already this season. OBU was in contention to win a conference championship all the way up until the final week of the regular season but fell to eventual champion Southeastern in a regular season finale thriller that decided the championship.

SWOSU is led by Damion Thornton who is averaging 18.6 points/game and 7.4 rebounds/game, ranking him second and sixth respectively in the GAC in those categories.

Kamden Gipson, running point guard for the Dawgs, averages 3.6 assists/game ranking him fourth in the GAC. Gipson is SWOSU’s second leading scorer at 11.2 points/game. Chris Braggs, Jr. is the other Bulldog double-digit scorer. He averages exactly 10.0 points/game.

As a team, SWOSU makes 8.6 three-point shots/game ranking them second in the league.

SWOSU has a better record away from their home floor than on it. The Dawgs are 6-8 this season on the road, compared to 4-7 in Weatherford. They hold an even 1-1 record on neutral courts.

With a potential win over Southeastern, SWOSU would play the winner of (3) Northwestern and (6) Southern Arkansas in the semifinals. That game would be at 2:15 on Saturday, March 5. See field preview and full schedule below.

The Field

(1) Southeastern (23-5, 18-4 GAC)

·         25-28 all-time vs SE

·         Lost 77-76, 87-78 this season to Savage Storm

(2) Oklahoma Baptist (20-8, 17-5 GAC)

·         4-12 all-time vs OBU

·         Lost 79-67, 67-62 this season to Bison

(3) Northwestern (20-8, 15-7 GAC)

·         10-12 all-time vs NWOSU

·         Won 83-73, lost 53-48 this season vs Rangers

(4) Southern Nazarene (19-9, 14-8 GAC)

·         6-17 all-time vs SNU

·         Won 77-72, lost 82-63 this season to Crimson Storm

(5) Henderson State (17-11, 13-9 GAC)

·         7-14 all-time vs HSU

·         Lost 80-70, won 71-60 this season vs Reddies

(6) Southern Arkansas (17-11, 13-9 GAC)

·         11-11 all-time vs SAU

·         Lost 70-41, won 70-67 this season vs Muleriders

(8) East Central (11-17, 9-13 GAC)

·         28-23 all-time vs ECU

·         Won 76-73 (OT), lost 74-68 this season vs Tigers

Schedule

2022 GAC Basketball Championships

Thursday, March 3 – Quarterfinals:

Men’s Game #1: Noon – #2 Oklahoma Baptist vs #7 Southwestern Oklahoma State

Men’s Game #2: 5:45 PM – #1 Southeastern Oklahoma State vs #8 East Central

Friday, March 4 – Quarterfinals:

Men’s Game #3: Noon – #4 Southern Nazarene vs #5 Henderson State

Men’s Game #4: 2:15 PM – #3 Northwestern Oklahoma State vs #6 Southern Arkansas

Saturday, March 5 – Semifinals:

Men’s Game #5: Noon – Winner Game #2 vs Winner Game #3

Men’s Game #6: 2:15 PM – Winner Game #1 vs Winner Game #4

Sunday, March 6 – Finals:

Men’s Game #7: 1:00 PM – Winner Game #5 vs Winner Game #6