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TIPPING OFF
Coming off a nice 70-59 win against East Central, Arkansas Tech looks to continue their success. The Golden Suns will hit the road this week to play a pair of away games across the border in Oklahoma. Arkansas Tech finds themselves going head-to-head with Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist for the first time since 2020 on Thursday and Saturday. The game in Bethany, Okla. against Southern Nazarene is scheduled for a tipoff time of 5:30 p.m. on Thursday while the contest against Oklahoma Baptist will be at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
With a 6-3 start to the year, the Golden Suns have shown that they are a team with a lot of resilience as they deal with some injuries that has left the team a little short handed on the bench. Their 90-84 win over Ouachita Baptist was their first challenge, with Ouachita freshmen Aspen Thornton dropping 43 points. They once again showed their ability to withstand pressure holding on to defeat Arkansas-Monticello on the road 72-66.
Also, the Golden Suns displayed the ability to make adjustments and find another level of both offense and defense to pull away from their opponents. In their home opener, the Golden Suns held just a three-point lead at halftime over Champion Christian and went on to win by 29 points. Against East Central, they were down by 7 at the half, but Tech went on to score 34 points in the third quarter for the second time this season to give them the edge and pull out the 70-59 victory.
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TECH TIDBITS
Arkansas Tech enters this weekend with a 6-3 overall record and a 3-2 record among conference opponents. Their last outing proved to be a dominant second half performance scoring 34 points in the third quarter to knock of East Central in Tucker.
Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 76.2 ppg and rank fifth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank seventh in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 68.2 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are third in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .432 (252-of-583) and are limiting their opponents to a .383 mark (218-of-569) to rank seventh.
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .287 (48-of-167) to rank 10th in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .316 (54-of-171) to rank ninth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .740 as a team (134-of-181) to rank fourth.
Individually, the Golden Suns have four players averaging double figures in scoring. Kaley Shipman leads the way at 19.2 ppg. Ashlei Lopez is next at 14.8 ppg. Jayana Sanders and Sydnee Wynn are the other two in double figures scoring at 14.7 ppg and 11.8 ppg, respectively.
The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 15th season on the sidelines at Tech. A member of the 300-career win club, Wilbers has a career record of 317-97. Overall in his time 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.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON STORM
Southern Nazarene enters Thursday's conference game at 7-4 overall with a 2-2 record in conference play and are coming off of a tough 60-72 loss at Southwestern Oklahoma. Their last win was at home against Northwestern Oklahoma on December 11.
In the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Southern Nazarene finished 12-8 overall and 9-7 in conference to place third in the GAC West.
Statistically this season, the Crimson Storm average 65.6 ppg on offense to rank 11th in the GAC and give up an average of 55.5 ppg to rank first in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, SNU shoots at a .401 clip overall (260-of-649) to rank tenth and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .375 (219-of-584) to rank second.Â
From three-point range, the Crimson Storm shoot at a .266 clip (54-of-203) to rank last in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .259 (50-of-193) from range to rank first. At the charity stripe, the Crimson Storm shoot .733 (148-of-202) to rank seventh in the GAC.
Individually, the Crimson Storm have two players scoring in double figures and are led by Cassandra Awatt with 13.2 ppg and Kennedy Gillette averaging 10.4 ppg. Awatt also averages 6.2 rpg, 1.2 apg and 1.5 spg while Gillette averages 4.9 rpg, 1.6 apg and 2.9 spg.
The Crimson Storm are coached by Trent May, who is in his fourth season at Southern Nazarene. In his time as a head coach at Southern Nazarene, May has amassed a 53-35 record with the Crimson Storm and holds a career record of 375-188.
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SCOUTING THE BISON
Oklahoma Baptist enters Saturday's conference game at 6-5 overall with a 2-3 record in conference play and are coming off an 80-94 overtime loss at Henderson State .
In the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Oklahoma Baptist finished 4-17 overall and 3-15 in conference to place last in the GAC West.
Statistically this season, the Bison average 69.0 ppg on offense to rank eighth in the GAC and give up an average of 65.8 ppg to rank fifth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, OKBU shoots at a .428 clip overall (266-of-622) to rank fifth and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .390 (265-of-680) to rank eighth.Â
From three-point range, the Bison shoot at a .382 clip (71-of-186) to rank first in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .292 (79-of-271) from range to rank fifth. At the charity stripe, the Bison shoot .736 (156-of-212) to rank sixth in the GAC.
Individually, the Bison have two players scoring in double figures and are led by Kalifa Ford with 15.1 ppg and Mallory Lockhart averaging 12.4 ppg. Both Ford and Lockhart are shooting very well from long range both above 45% with Lockhart leading shooting 46.7% from three on the season.
The Bison are coached by Bo Overton, who is in his second season at Oklahoma Baptist. In his time as the Bison head coach, Overton has a 10-22 overall record.
