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For Immediate Release 21 November 2002
Southwest
Baptist’s men’s basketball team will open the 2002-03
regular season schedule on the road in Goodwell, Okla. The
Bearcats will take part in the Panhandle State Classic and
will open 2002-03 play against West Texas A&M on Friday,
Nov. 22 at 6 p.m. The Bearcats will then face Oklahoma Panhandle
State on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 8 p.m.
“I know our guys are ready to the season started,“
said SBU Head Coach Darin Archer. “I think it will be
interesting to see how we bounce back from a few early setbacks.
We have challenged our guys with a tough schedule early with
having three tough road games right off the bat. I think it
is good we are finally going to start playing and I think
the coaching staff is ready as well, so we can see where we
are at so far this season.”
The SBU men won their exhibition game on Saturday, Nov. 16
against Dream Builders, 85-83. D.J. Hogue led the way with
20 points for the Bearcats. Second in scoring was Marcus Jackson
with 14 points. Leading the team in rebounds was Ryan Stock
with 10. He also had eight points. David Coutchie was the
only other Bearcat in double figures. He had 10 points.
SBU shot 50.8 percent from the field, 25 percent from beyond
the three-point arc and 51.6 percent from the line. The Bearcats
led 45-38 at the half and were outscored 45-40 in the second,
but held on to win the exhibition game.
“I saw a lot of positive things, and I saw a lot of things
that we need to work on from our exhibition game,“ Archer
said. “We got out of the game healthy and we learned
more about ourselves. Now we have four days to work on some
of our weaknesses. We got to see a lot of different looks
with different combinations of players, and I think that is
also definitely a positive. We will be ready to go Friday.”
West Texas A&M enters the season after going 16-10 overall
last year. The Buffaloes finished with a 6-6 record in the
Lone Star Conference South Division and tied for sixth place.
This season, the Buffs are picked No. 2 in the LSC Preseason
Poll. The Buffs return eight of 12 lettermen with four of
their five starters coming back for the 2002-03 season. WTAMU
leads the series over SBU, 1-0.
Oklahoma Panhandle State enters the season with nine of its
11 lettermen from a year ago back on the bench. The team returns
four of its five starters to the 2002-03 squad. Last season,
the Aggies were 5-22, including a 110-84 loss at the hands
of the SBU Bearcats in Bolivar on Dec. 7, 2001. The Aggies
played Texas-San Antonio on Tuesday, Nov. 12 in an exhibition
game in San Antonio. The Roadrunners of UTSA defeated OPSU,
90-68. The Aggies were led by Kenneth Barrett with 25 points.
Andrew Harlie was second in scoring with 15 points. OPSU shot
43.3 from the field and 71.4 percent from the line. SBU leads
the series, 1-0.
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