The East Central University men's basketball team is headed into rivalry week and will face three opponents over six days.  The Tigers will first host Southwestern Oklahoma State, Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and then hit the road to face Oklahoma Baptist, Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. and Southeastern Oklahoma State, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Game Notes

The Broadcast
ECU's radio home for Tigers basketball in 2015-16 is Ada's KXFC, 105.5, FM 'The X-Factor'. Kenny Morrison returns to broadcast the games for his 19th season. Morrison, a 1987 ECU graduate, spent two seasons doing color prior to taking over the play-by-play duties during the 1997-98 season.  

The Coverage
Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats, live video (if available) and the KXFC radio broadcast on ECUTigers.com.  Go to the men's basketball schedule page. Fans can listen to the radio broadcast online or through the FREE KXFC App available in ITunes, Google Stores where apps are sold and www.kxfcradio.com.

Scouting Southwestern
The Bulldogs are 13-8 overall and 9-6 in the GAC after being victorious in their last two games.  SWOSU has a +2.0 scoring and +1.0 rebounding margin for the year.  They are shooting the same as their opponents from the field (.428) and beyond the arc (.354).

The Bulldogs have two players with double-digit point totals.  Martell Collins leads the team with 18.4 points and six rebounds per game, while Markeise Champion adds 15.3 points and 3.4 boards.

The Series
The Tigers hold a 98-84 lead in the all-time series and have a 23-18 lead when playing at home.

In the last meeting, ECU claimed a 77-65 win on the road.  Senior Deron Hill lead the Tigers with 19 points and five rebounds, while Stirling Thomas added 15 points and four boards.

Martell Collins led the Bulldogs with 15 points and six rebounds, while Markeise Champion tallied 13 points and three boards.

Scouting Oklahoma Baptist
The Bison are 6-13 overall and 2-13 in the league.  OBU has a -6.4 scoring and -1.3 rebounding margin for the year.

The Bison have two players that are averaging over 10 points per game.  Steven Green leads the team with 17.9 points and 5.9 rebounds, while Chandler Rickey adds 13.8 points and 8.2 boards.
 
The Series
ECU has a 70-56 lead in the all-time series after winning the last game.

The Tigers earned an 80-58 win in the last meeting, with a .456 to .324 lead in overall shooting percentages.  Stirling Thomas led ECU with 24 points and four rebounds, while junior Braxton Reeves contributed 23 points, four boards and eight assists.

The Bison were led by Chandler Rickey, with 28 points and seven rebounds.

Scouting Southeastern
The Savage Storm are 8-13 overall and 6-9 in the GAC and have gone 6-6 at home.  SE has a -6.9 scoring and -1.4 rebounding margin for the season.

The Savage Storm have three players with over 10 points per game.  Anton Cook leads the team with 16.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.  Sami Bzai adds 15.2 points and 3.9 boards per game.
 
The Series
The all-time series with SE is all knotted at 85-all after the Tigers won the last meeting.  However, the Savage Storm hold a slight 19-22 lead when playing in Durant.

The Tigers claimed a clear 94-57 victory over SE at home earlier this season.  Braxton Reeves led ECU with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals.  Junior Ben Brown-White added 19 points and eight boards.

Anton Cook led the Savage Storm with 14 points and five boards, while Sami Bzai contributed nine points and four boards.

Donzo's Career Weekend
Junior Ishmael Donzo made a mark for ECU in the games against Harding and Arkansas Tech.  The Austin, Texas native tallied career bests of 21 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, eight field goals and five free throws against the Bisons and added a career-high of one steal and five free throws against the Wonder Boys.

Reeves Player of the Week
Junior Braxton Reeves was named the GAC Player of the Week for Jan. 4 after helping the Tigers to a 91-87 win over Missouri-St. Louis last Saturday.

The Fort Worth, Texas, native scored a career-high 28 points against the Tritons. Reeves went 9-of-14 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the 3-point arc. He added a season-high five assists and two steals, along with four rebounds. He also finished the victory as one of two Tigers in the game (Stirling Thomas) with 28 points and four rebounds.

Nearly a Triple-Double Day
Senior Deron Hill had a strong overall game for the Tigers against Southwestern Adventist, just barely missing a triple-double, with career highs of 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Thomas Repeats at Player of the Week
Senior Stirling Thomas was named the GAC Player of the Week for Dec. 7.  This was the second honor for Thomas this season, after earning the award in the first week of the season.

Thomas he averaged 30.0 points per game in wins against Henderson State and Ouachita. The Elgin, Okla., native made 12-of-18 shots, with four 3-pointers against the Reddies and followed up with 27 points against OBU, last season's GAC regular-season champion.

The win against Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, Ark., was the first time since Feb. 22, 2014 that OBU had given up a win at home.  That streak includes a perfect 13-0 mark at home in 2014-15 and ended at 15 games.

Up Next
The Tigers will remain on the road for a battle with Southern Nazarene, Thursday, Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m. in Bethany, Okla.