We head to Weatherford for the doubleheader between East Central and Southwestern as the Games of the Day on this Thursday.
♦ None of the four teams taking the court tonight are any lower than third place in the Great American Conference. The women’s game matches No. 2 ECU and SWOSU, who is tied for the No. 3 spot. Both have clinched a spot in the GAC postseason tournament. ECU’s men are in the top spot in the GAC and the only team to have clinched a tournament spot so far while SWOSU is the No. 3 team in the league.
♦ East Central (15-6, 10-5 GAC) rolls into Weatherford on a five-game winning streak and a half game up on SWOSU in the league standings. The Lady Tigers will try to counter a tough SWOSU offense with a defense that gives up only 61.5 points per contest. They are tough on the glass as well, leading the conference in offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and, naturally, rebounding margin, pulling down 9.2 more boards than their opponents each game.
♦ The Lady Dawgs are fourth in the nation in scoring offense at 83.3 points per game, and that is with a scoring slump of sorts lately. SWOSU (12-8, 9-5 GAC) has been held to less than 75 points in each of the last three games, and one of those was a victory. Southwestern is also a threat from long range as the No. 4 team in the country in made three-pointers, knocking down 9.0 per game, and has connected on at least 15 in a game four times this year.
♦ East Central’s men (14-7, 11-4 GAC) are looking to avenge the only loss they have had to a Division II school from Oklahoma, having beaten Southeastern, Southern Nazarene, Northwestern and Rogers State. East Central has won three straight overall and eight of the last 10, all in the GAC. Also, the Tigers’ berth in the league tournament will mark the first postseason appearance in a conference tournament for ECU since 2002-03.
♦ Southwestern (12-8, 9-5 GAC) counters the ECU streak, bringing in a three-game losing streak to tonight’s game. But the Bulldogs have had the Tigers’ number of late. SWOSU has won eight of the last nine meetings between the two. A win, combined with a Southeastern or Ouachita Baptist loss, would put the Bulldogs into the GAC tournament. Rod Camphor and Gary Inglett are in the top 10 in the Great American Conference in both scoring and rebounding, making SWOSU the only school in the league with teammates that own those stats.