The SWOSU men’s basketball team is riding high following its second consecutive victory, a 99-66 win against rival Northwestern Oklahoma State Monday night at Percefull Fieldhouse.
The win marks the third straight win by SWOSU against Northwestern and their second consecutive win against the Rangers in Alva.
The Bulldogs were locked into a close game early, tied at 22-22 before a huge 32-8 run to end the half put SWOSU at a comfortable lead they would build on through the second half. This big win gave players such as Greg Policard and Mason Hart big minutes that they used to score career highs of 13 and 6 points, respectively.
Policard was not the only Bulldog to put up double digits as he was joined by Damion Thornton, 20, Kamden Gibson, 13, Bralyn James, 12, and Livingston Cleare, who also set a new career high with 11 points.
The Bulldogs also were stout defensively, holding Northwestern to 34 percent shooting from the field and forcing 21 turnovers that led directly to 33 points.
“I am just really proud of our guys,” coach Terry Evans said. “They have improved so much since last year.”
SWOSU 118,
East Central 89
SWOSU set a new singlegame school record with 22 made 3-pointers as they dominated East Central for a 118-89 victory Saturday at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
Gipson led the Bulldogs with a career-high 26 points, hitting 7-10 3-pointers — including three early in the second half to help SWOSU pull away after leading 50-41 at the break. Six other players made multiple threes in the game, including Tauriawn Knight, who finished with 19 points on 7-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from distance.
SWOSU shot a scorching 57.1 percent, 40-70, from the field for the game and connected on the schoolrecord 3-point total despite just 36 attempts from long range, which was good for 61.1 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Five players reached double figures in scoring for the Bulldogs, with Thornton, 18, James, 13, and Chris Braggs, Jr., joining Gipson and Knight while three others — Cleare, Jaylan Williams and Khobe Austin-Johnson — had at least 87 points to contribute to the win.
“We challenged the guys to play up to their potential and they played above that,” coach Terry Evans said. “I mean we made 22 threes, a new record here at SWOSU, and that is amazing.”
SWOSU moves to 5-2 on the season, heading into a matchup with Oklahoma Baptist Thursday night in Shawnee. Oklahoma Baptist gave the Bulldogs their first loss this season.