SWOSU Cages Lions, Move to 9-0

December 16, 2006

Nate Perry

WEATHERFORD – Southwestern Oklahoma State University added yet another surprisingly easy victory to its already lengthy winning streak with an 83-67 victory over visiting Missouri Southern Saturday in Weatherford.

The Bulldogs buried the Lions with a 17-4 scoring explosion to start the second half and broke open what had been a relative tight ball game. Clarke Hale’s nifty behind the backboard, reverse layup brought the crowd to its feet when he scored while being fouled on the play. He swished the free throw and the game was over early as the Bulldogs led 61-37 with 15:53 to play.

Hale had 13 points and led five other players who reached double figures for the unbeaten Bulldogs who improved to 9-0. SWOSU is off to its best start since the 2004-05 season when the Bulldogs began the year 11-0.

The Bulldogs kept their 20-point cushion until five minutes to play before coach Todd Thurman emptied his bench and allowed reserves to play out the remaining minutes.

Othello Alford

Reggie Gunn, Nate Perry and Marcus Millender each added 11 points while Othello Alford and Ryan Mann added 10 points for SWOSU.

Missouri Southern, which had already beaten Lone Star Conference schools West Texas A&M and Northeastern State, fell to 5-5. The Lions were led by Matt Habermehl with 13 points.

The game was slowed by 52 fouls in which resulted to a whopping 80 combined free throws attempts by both teams. The Lions made just 26-of-47 (55%) charity tosses while the Bulldogs sparkled making 26-of-33 (79%).

SWOSU will next play at home Wednesday, Dec. 20 against Southwest Christian. Gametime is at 8 p.m. The SWOSU women will play the early game, against Arkansas Tech, beginning at 6 p.m.

The SWOSU men begin second semester play with its much anticipated showdown with unbeaten and nationally-ranked Oklahoma State University Tuesday, Jan. 2 in Stillwater. A limited number of tickets remain available by calling the SWOSU Athletic Ticket office at 580-774-3068.