The 22-game, three-and-a-half month odyssey to determine Great American Conference champions in women’s and men’s basketball begins Thursday, Nov. 21.
Arkansas Tech University will host Ouachita Baptist University for a doubleheader at Tucker Coliseum.
ATU has won four regular season GAC championships in women’s basketball and three regular season GAC titles in men’s basketball since the league was founded in 2011-12.
Tickets ($5 adults/$3 senior citizens and students) will be available at the door on Thursday. Those with a valid ATU identification card will be admitted free of charge.
ATU Golden Suns (2-1) vs. OBU Lady Tigers (0-3)
When: Thursday, Nov. 21, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Tucker Coliseum, Russellville
Radio/Internet: KCJC 102.3 FM/www.arkansastechsports.com
Series: ATU leads 68-15
About the Golden Suns: Arkansas Tech has won 12 consecutive women’s basketball games against Ouachita Baptist, and the Golden Suns are 36-3 all-time in home games against the Lady Tigers. ATU freshman Jalei Oglesby leads the GAC in scoring (22.7 points per game). She scored 2,982 points during her four-year career at Howe High School (Okla.) and was selected 2019 Miss Basketball Oklahoma. The Golden Suns lead the GAC in scoring offense (89.7 points per game) and rebound margin (+18.3 per game).
About the Lady Tigers: Ouachita Baptist has dropped non-conference contests against Newman University, Southwest Minnesota State University and Texas A&M University-Commerce to begin the 2019-20 season. The Lady Tigers are last in the GAC in scoring offense (52.3 points per game). Robert Dallimore is in his first season as OBU’s head coach. He was previously an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock under former ATU head coach Joe Foley.
ATU Wonder Boys (2-1) vs. OBU Tigers (1-2)
When: Thursday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Tucker Coliseum, Russellville
Radio/Internet: KCJC 102.3 FM/www.arkansastechsports.com
Series: OBU leads 91-82
About the Wonder Boys: Arkansas Tech is displaying improvement over last year in two key categories. The Wonder Boys ranked 12th in the GAC in field goal percentage defense (.486) during the 2018-19 campaign. So far this year, they are sixth in the league in that category (.429). ATU has gone from 11th in the GAC in rebound margin last year (-5.1 rebounds per game) to fifth in that metric (+1.7 rebounds per game) in 2019-20.
About the Tigers: Ouachita Baptist defeated St. Cloud State University 56-51 in its season opener before suffering back-to-back losses to Minot State University (66-62) and Dallas Baptist University (70-56). The Tigers are tied for last in the GAC in scoring offense (58 points per game). Ouachita swept its regular season series with Arkansas Tech last year and has won three of its last four meetings with the Wonder Boys.
