TIPPING OFF

Golden Sun basketball is finally back for another exciting season. The 2021-22 season looks to be a return to form for the Golden Suns as they are set with a full 26-game season and competition among all 12 GAC teams. Of the 26 total games, four will be against non-conference opponents, with the other 22 games residing as the traditional GAC contests. This will be the first time since the 2019-20 season that the Golden Suns will travel across the Arkansas state border to compete against their inner conference opponents in Oklahoma.

Up first for the Golden Suns is a matchup against the Champion Christian Tigers in Tucker Coliseum tomorrow, Monday, November 15 with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off scheduled. This will be just the second time that these programs have faced each other, with the first matchup coming from last season's opener on January 2, 2021 in Tucker where the Golden Suns picked up a big 80-40 win against the Tigers.

TECH TIDBITS

The Golden Suns finished last season as the No. 1-seed in the GAC Eastern Division claiming the regular-season title with a 14-2 overall record and a 12-1 record among GAC games. During the conference tournament, Tech won by a wide margin in their first game against East Central in the quarterfinals 86-62 advancing them to the semi-finals. The Golden Suns dropped their hard-fought semi-final matchup against Southeastern 68-58.

Last year, the Golden Suns' averaged 85.1 ppg, which was the best scoring offense in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns ranked seventh in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 72.2 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns led the conference in both categories as they shot at an overall clip of .477 (526-of-1102) from the field and limited their opponents to just a .357 mark (396-of-1110).

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns knocked down the three-ball at a clip of .340 (90-of-265) to rank fourth in the GAC while their opponents made three-pointers at a mark of .317 (120-of-379) to rank fifth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns shot .741 as a team (220-of-297) to rank sixth.

Individually, the Golden Suns had five players average double figures in scoring. Last season's GAC Newcomer of the year and a unanimous All-GAC First Team selection Ashlei Lopez led the way at 16.4 ppg while GAC Honorable Mention Kaley Shipman was next at 13.1 ppg. Following Shipman was Jalei Oglesby with 12.9 ppg and unanimous All-GAC First Team selection Jayana Sanders at 11.9 ppg. Rounding out the five double figure scorers for Tech was forward Nikki Metcalfe at 10.2 ppg. All five double figure scorers from last season make a return to the Golden Suns for the 2021-22 season.

Leading the Golden Suns on the sidelines once more is Dave Wilbers as he is set to embark on his 15th season as head coach. In his time as the head coach at Tech, Wilbers has kept the Golden Suns as perennial contenders in the GAC, the region and the nation, winning 20 or more games nine times, capturing seven conference regular championships, five conference tournament championships and advancing to nine NCAA Regional Tournaments. Last season, Wilbers surpassed the 300-win milestone as a head coach in a 63-60 win against Arkansas-Monticello. Wilbers was also named the GAC Coach of the Year last season.

In his time as a 15-year head coach, Wilbers has only ever been at the helm of the Golden Suns and has constructed a successful program that boasts a 312-95 overall record in that time.
 

SCOUTING THE TIGERS

Prior to playing Tech, Champion Christian has played 5 games thus far. Two of those games have been exhibition matches against Tarleton State and Oklahoma City University. In their three non-exhibition games, the Tigers are 3-0. 

The Tigers are coached by DeAnthony Ellison, who is currently ready to go for his third season with Champion Christian. In his first season, Ellison led the Tigers to a 19-11 record.