BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb University men's basketball team will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick this weekend for the Inaugural Atlantic Slam Tournament. The Runnin' Bulldogs are one of four teams participating, playing Weber State University on Friday, Nov. 17 at 4 p.m., Colgate University on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 4 p.m., and Yale University on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. All games will be played in the Avenir Centre and will stream live on ESPN+ (WatchESPN.com).
 
SCOUTING WEBER STATE
The Weber State Wildcats sit at 2-0 following wins over Benedictine Mesa (Nov. 7) and #23 St. Mary's (Nov. 12). Last season Weber State posted a record of 18-15 reaching the second round of the Big Sky falling to Montana State. The Wildcats are in their second season under Head Coach Eric Duft and are 20-15 with him at the helm. This will be Gardner-Webb's first meeting in program history with Weber State.
 
SCOUTING COLGATE
The Colgate Raiders are off to a 1-1 start with a victory over Brown (Nov. 6), and a loss against Syracuse (Nov. 14). Last season the Raiders posted a record of 26-9 and winning the Patriot League Tournament championship with wins over Loyola, Army and Lafayette. Colgate Head Coach Matt Langel is in his 13^th season at the helm of the program with a record of 203-175. This will be Gardner-Webb's first meeting in program history with Colgate.
 
SCOUTING YALE
The Yale Bulldogs enter the Atlantic Slam with a record of 2-1 following a victory against Vassar (Nov. 6), a loss to #11 Gonzaga (Nov. 10), and a win against Loyola Marymount (Nov. 12). Last season Yale posted a record of 21-9 falling in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament to Vanderbilt. Head Coach James Jones is in his 24^th season at helm of the Yale men's basketball program with a record of 375-302. The Runnin' Bulldogs hold a 1-0 record all-time against Yale. GWU knocked off the Bulldogs 79-69 in 2001 in Greenville, S.C.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Runnin' Bulldogs most recently fell 77-62 at #20 Baylor. Following an early 13-8 lead by Baylor at the 13:31 mark, Gardner-Webb got off and Runnin' matching Baylor at 16 all a few minutes later by 9:51 on the clock. Key buckets from Isaiah Richards, Brendan Mykalcio and Cheickna Sissoko allowed the 'Dawgs to close the gap. The final 10 minutes of the first half saw the Runnin' Bulldogs go back and forth with the Bears with 11 lead changes. Baylor was ultimately able to grab the lead with a bit less than two minutes left talking a 40-34 lead into halftime. Julien Soumaoro led the first half scoring down the stretch for the 'Dawgs with nine points.
 
Gardner-Webb kept the up the pressure on the nationally ranked Bears early in the second half with Soumaoro staying hot from the floor. DQ Nicholas also began to heat up tallying eight points in the second half alone. The back and forth continued until the 14:02 minute mark when the score sat 48-48. Baylor's Jayden Nunn was able to jump start their scoring as the Bears took the lead with 12:59 left to go. Caleb Robinson joined Soumaoro in contributions to keep battling for the 'Dawgs late in the contest. Baylor came out on top by a final of 77-62. By the final horn there were 16 lead changes total and the game was tied four times. 
 
'DAWG WATCH
All-time, GWU is 5-2 in games outside of the United States or in the surrounding territories. Most notably, Gardner-Webb knocked off ACC member Clemson 72-70 at the 2014 Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Runnin' Bulldogs' other international wins came at the 2012 Cancun Challenge, defeating Howard and Austin Peay. GWU has never played a basketball game in Canada.
 
Gardner-Webb hit the only two three points in the entire game for either team against Baylor (Nov. 12). Julien Soumaoro hit one of those as he led the 'Dawgs in scoring with 16 points. This was his second double-digit performance of the season thus far. Caleb Robinson hit the other three pointer, as he had a seven-point night. DQ Nicholas dropped 10 points on the night recording his second double-digit performance of the young season. Brendan MyKalcio nearly made it three 'Dawgs with double-digits as he scored nine.
 
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.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Gardner-Webb will return to Paul Porter Arena on Saturday, Nov. 25 for a 1:00 p.m. tip off against Limestone University. The Runnin' Bulldogs will then close out the month at Queens University of Charlotte on Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. 
 
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.