GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- The Green Bay men's basketball team will play its final home game of the nonconference season on Thursday night, hosting Bowling Green for a 6 p.m. tip-off at the Resch Center. The game will serve as the first contest that local standout and Marquette-transfer Sandy Cohen III will be eligible to play in, after sitting out 400 days upon transferring to GB mid-season last year.

CATCH THE ACTION vs Bowling Green: Thursday, Dec. 21 - 6:00 PM CT  //  Green Bay, Wis. (Resch Center)

Matchup: Green Bay Phoenix (5-6, 0-0 HL) vs Bowling Green Falcons (7-4, 0-0 MAC)

Game Notes: Green Bay Notes | Bowling Green Notes

Buy Tickets: Click Here

Promotions: Bud Light Yeti Cooler Giveaway (All fans 21 years and older with a game ticket will be entered into a drawing to win the cooler; additional tickets will be entered with each beer purchase.)

Where to Follow Stats: StatBroadcast LIVE STATS

Where to Watch: TV - Spectrum Sports  Online/Mobile: ESPN3 (subject to blackout in Green Bay and Bowling Green viewing markets)

Where to Listen: WNFL 101.9 FM, 1440 AM with Brian Kuklinski and Mark Daniels on the call

For Live in-game updates, follow: @gbphoenixmbb on Twitter and gbphoenixmbb on Instagram


GAME NOTES

RECENT RECAP
In Green Bay's last two "get right" games, five players are averaging in double-figures and the team is averaging 97.0 PPG. Khalil Small, who scored a career-high 29 against Rockford, led the team in those two games with a 19.5 PPG average and 6.5 RPG. PJ Pipes and Hunter Crist both averaged 13.5 PPG, while Kameron Hankerson and TJ Parham put up 12.5 PPG and 12.0 PPG, respectively. Green Bay won 86-50 and 108-64 in both home games, and shot 52.9 percent from the field. GB also enjoyed a +12.5 rebounding margin and +10.0 turnover margin in its last two non-D1 games, and will now turn its attention to its final pair of nonconference games.

COHEN COMEBACK
Redshirt-junior Sandy Cohen III will make his Green Bay debut in Thursday's game, after not playing in a collegiate game in exactly 400 days, when he played in his last game for Marquette on Nov. 17, 2016. Cohen III joined the Phoenix in December 2016 and has been practicing with the team ever since. The Seymour native averaged 11.0 PPG and led the team in rebounding with 5.5 RPG and steals with 13, during the team's four-game outing in Puerto Rico this past summer. Cohen III will be the 12^th active player on Green Bay's roster for this season.

SMALL IN LARGE
Senior Khalil Small continues to lead Green Bay in scoring this season, improving his season average to 15.9 PPG after scoring a career-high 29 points on Monday night against Rockford. Small has scored in double-figures in all 11 games this season and set a new career-high with 11 made field goals. The Chicago native tied his career-high, which he set in the team's NCAA Tournament game in 2016, knocking down 5 3s in 26 minutes of action. Small ranks 6^th in the Horizon League in scoring and is averaging 17.8 PPG and 7.0 RPG in the six home games this season.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Over the past 3 seasons under head coach Linc Darner, Green Bay has gone 12-3 at home in nonconference games and is 5-1 this season. GB is 26-7 at home overall during those three seasons and is outscoring its opponents by 24.7 points per game this year. The Phoenix has outscored opponents 240-138 in the second half of home games this season, showing the ability to close out games. GB will play four of its next five games at home, including the first three in Horizon League play.

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
GB ranks second in the Horizon League in field goal percentage defense, holding its opponents to just 41.4 percent shooting. Beyond the arc, the Phoenix is even better, holding opponents to a low 27.1 percent shooting, which leads the HL and ranks 7^th in the NCAA. The NCAA leader is San Diego, which only allows 23.8 percent shooting from 3-point range this year.

THE PIPES IS RIGHT
Freshman PJ Pipes has now scored in double-figures in back-to-back games, including a career-high 16 points against Rockford. Pipes also played a career-high 26 minutes in that game and has started in 8-straight games overall for the Phoenix. After not making a 3 in his first 6 games, Pipes has made three 3s in his last two games, going 2-for-4 from beyond the arc in his last game.

USING YOUTH
When Green Bay gets Sandy Cohen III on the active roster, the Phoenix will have a combined 9 years of college basketball experience. That 9 years is spread out through its 12 active players, the least amount of experience in the Horizon League. Cohen III brings in 2 years of college basketball experience, while Small and Jesperson both own 3 years. Hankerson is the only other player on the roster to have a year of Division I basketball experience under his belt. Darner has deployed 8 newcomers this year, each of which own 0 years of D1 basketball experience. MOST NOTABLY, Green Bay is one of only 5 teams in the NCAA with 6 or more freshmen on the active roster.

CRIST-MAS
Freshman Hunter Crist has made the most of his minutes over his last four games, scoring in double-figures in three of those contests and racking up a career-high 16 points against Parkside. Crist scored 11 more points against Rockford, this after scoring 10 points on the road at Missouri. The Indiana native scored those 11 points against Rockford in only 14 minutes of action, after fouling out with over 11 minutes left in the game.

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