Men Lose First Game

December 9, 2008

BOLIVAR, Mo. – Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s unbeaten march through its first six opponents came to an abrupt end Tuesday as the Bulldogs were beaten 106-84 by Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo.

The Bulldogs, winners of their first six games, could not match the Bearcats significant size advantage and became SBU’s eighth victim in eight games. The Bearcats entered the game as the nation’s fourth-ranked NCAA Division II team, according to the latest NABC poll.

SWOSU will next play Saturday against the last Lone Star Conference unbeaten team, Angelo State, when the Rams come to Weatherford. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.

Abdullah Lawal had a career-best 21 points to lead SWOSU in scoring. Lawal, who was known for his aggressive defensive play, showed the same energy on the offensive end against SBU. He made four-of-six shots from the field, two-of-three from three-point distance, and made 11-of-14 foul shots.

Jerard Campbell had 17 points and Kenneth White added 16 for the Bulldogs to complete SWOSU’s scoring leaders.

Matt Rogers had 23 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks to lead the Bearcats. He was 15-of-17 from the line.

SBU out rebounded SWOSU by a 62-35 margin. The Bearcats had more offensive rebounds (28) than SWOSU had defensive boards (25). SBU had 11 blocked shots while the Bulldogs came up with two.

SWOSU held its ground early and trailed 18-15 when Campbell scored on a layup with 12:57 to play in the first half. SBU scored the next 10 points to go up 28-15 and pushed their margin to 17 by the end of the first half when D’Ante Harris scored on a layup to make it 48-31.

The Bulldogs got it as close as 12 points on a layup by Jordan Frosch with 17:02 to play trimming SBU’s lead to 51-39. SWOSU would come no closer as SBU had a 20-point lead at 66-46 with 13:21 to play before the teams traded baskets over game’s last minutes.