BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb University men's basketball team will continue their early season non-conference slate on the road against the No. 20 Baylor University Bears on Sunday, Nov. 12. at 5:00 p.m. Sunday's game will stream live on ESPN+ (WatchESPN.com), with the radio call broadcast live on the Varsity Network App, GWUSports.com/listenlive, and ESPNCLT.com. "The Voice of the Runnin' Bulldogs" Phil Constantino and Jim "Mojo" Morrison will be on the call for radio.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARS
The Baylor Bears enter Sunday's game ranked No. 20 in the nation. They sit at 2-0 with an 88-82 win over Auburn (Nov. 7) and a 96-70 win over John Brown (Nov. 9). Last season Baylor posted a record of 23-11 reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament falling to Creighton. Head Coach Scott Drew led Baylor to their first national championship victory at the close of the 2020-2021 season. This will be Gardner-Webb's first meeting in program history with Baylor. They remain 4-0 all-time against opponents from the Big South with their last meeting being a 73-57 win over USC Upstate in December of 2012.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Gardner-Webb sits 1-1 early in their season most recently falling at #14 Arkansas on Nov. 10. The 'Dawgs were off and Runnin' in the opening four minutes of the ballgame going on a 10-4 run. Caleb Robinson came out hot tallying seven of those points. A two by Shahar Lazar and a three from Quest Aldridge allowed Gardner-Webb to build a 13-7 lead before the Razorbacks began to close in. A back and forth ensued for the next 10 minutes sitting tied 20-20 with 9:07 remaining in the first half. Julien Soumaoro made contributions in this stretch for the 'Dawgs while Khalif Battle heated up for Arkansas. With 5:05 left in the first Razorbacks began a 14-3 run to close it out and hold a 48-36 lead at halftime.
 
The Hogs continued to extend their lead in the second half going on a 15-5 run by the4 13:31 mark highlighted by performances by Tramon Mark and Trevon Brazile. Gardner-Webb continued to battle against Arkansas late in the game with Caleb Robinson, Julien Soumaoro and Cheickna Sissoko all posting double digit nights. The Runnin' Bulldogs closed out the game on an 8-0 run falling by an 86-68 final.
 
EARLY SEASON NOTABLES
The 'Dawgs had three standout performances against #14 Arkansas. Caleb Robinson led the 'Dawgs in scoring netting 18 points. This was his second double-digit performance in a row. He also pulled in seven rebounds and went 6-8 from the stripe. Julien Soumaoro dropped 15 points making a trio of three pointers. Cheickna Sissoko recorded 10 points for his first double-digit performance for Gardner-Webb. He remains perfect from the free throw line going 8-8 so far this year.
 
In their game one victory against Erskine, five different Runnin' Bulldogs tallied double-digit points. Brendan Mykalcio had a pair of career highs recording his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Darryl Simmons II co-led the 'Dawgs in scoring also reaching 15. Caleb Robinson tallied 14 points, with DQ Nicholas right behind him with 13. Shahar Lazar scored 12 points going 5-6 with a trio of three pointers in his opening career performance for Gardner Webb.
 
RETURNING 'DAWGS
Senior guard DQ Nicholas was named to the Big South's 2023-2024 Preseason All-Conference First-Team on Oct. 17. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Nicholas returns to the Runnin' Bulldogs following a season in which he earned second team all-conference honors. Nicholas played in 31 games making 28 starts in 2022-2023. He averaged 12.5 points per game, the 14th most in the Big South Conference and dished out 98 assists, the seventh most in the Big South, averaging 3.2 assists per game. He also recorded 41 steals, the sixth most in the Big South. Julien Soumaoro played in 30 games last season while starting in 24 games for 798 minutes. He led the team in 3-point makes (55) and percentage (37.7) Lucas Stieber played in played in all 31 games making seven starts on the year with an average of 23.5 minutes per game. He was second on the team in 3-point percentage going 26-72 (36.1) from deep. Quest Aldridge played in 31 games with four starts averaging 6.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Caleb Robinson played in 31 games averaging 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Runnin' Bulldogs will now prepare to travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada for match ups with Weber State University (Nov. 17), Colgate University (Nov. 18), and Yale University (Nov. 19) as part of the Atlantic Slam Tournament. Gardner-Webb will return to Paul Porter Arena on Nov. 25 for a 1:00 p.m. tip off against Limestone University.
 
Times and television coverage for all Gardner-Webb men's basketball games can be found at gwusports.com. For more information on the Gardner-Webb men's basketball team, fans can follow the team on Twitter at @GWU_MBK or on Instagram at @gwu_mbk.