5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22
W.P. Wood Fieldhouse in Shawnee, Okla.
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University looks to snap a three-game skid as they travel to St. Gregory's on Saturday. The contest is on Military Appreciation Day at W.P. Wood Fieldhouse. Service members will receive free admittance to the game as well as a popcorn and drink voucher.
ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars (11-8, 4-7) fell to No. 11 Oklahoma Baptist in a 73-64 battle on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars took the early lead in the game, building a 13-point lead midway through the first period. The Bison answered back with a 14-0 run to gain the lead and momentum in the game.
OCU was led by a pair of double-doubles by two of their senior leaders. Nate Flowers, a 6-foot-5 senior from Waldorf, Md., led the Stars with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Flowers is leading the Stars with 13.5 points and 10.6 rebounds a night. Dee Proby, a 6-10 senior from Round Rock, Texas, earned his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Proby puts in 12.5 points and adds 4.6 rebounds on average. Shane Rogers, a 6-4 junior from Flower Mound, Texas, added 10 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes. Rogers was 3-for-4 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Rogers averages 7.7 points on 54.7 percent shooting, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
The Stars rank fourth in assists per game with 18.7 per game and fifth in the NAIA sinking 50.5 percent of their shots. Flowers is sitting in third in the NAIA with 202 total rebounds. Bryant Williams is blocking with the best of them as he has the fourth spot in total blocks (41) on the season.
The Stars were unranked in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. OCU has been picked to finish fifth in the SAC according to league coaches. Six-time national champion OCU has captured the SAC regular-season crown 11 times.
The Stars are 29-0 against St. Gregory's in the all-time series. In the last meeting between the two teams, OCU earned the 85-69 road win thanks in part to 63.3 percent shooting from the field in the game.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: St. Gregory's is coming off a 92-71 loss at the hands of Mid-America Christian on Thursday. The Cavaliers fell to 5-9, 2-8 in SAC play with the defeat.
Fayzon Richie, a 6-3 sophomore, led all scorers with 24 points in the game. Richie is St. Gregory's leading scorer averaging 21.2 points per game, good for seventh in the NAIA. Richie also comes in leading the team with 7.2 rebounds per game.
Dylan Lemley, a 6-5 freshman, added 12 points in the loss. Lemley puts in 13.9 points and 3.3 rebounds a night.
Brandon Jackson, a 6-6 junior, finished with 17 points along with a game-high nine assists. Jackson posts 8.9 points, 5.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. Louis Marshall, a 6-8 sophomore, recorded a game-high nine boards for the Cavaliers.Marshall averages 7.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.08 blocks each night.
St. Gregory's was slated in the 12th spot in the preseason SAC coaches poll.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Kevin Morrissey has posted a 43-34 record in his third season at OCU. Morrissey spent the previous four seasons as St. Gregory's coach. He also has been an assistant at Missouri State and Texas-Pan American. Morrissey played his college ball at Oklahoma Baptist and Oral Roberts and high school at Bishop McGuinness in Oklahoma City.
John Martin is in his third season as head coach of the Cavaliers with a 14-56 record since succeeding Morrissey. St. Gregory's went 7-20 last season. Martin played college basketball at St. Gregory's, when it was a junior college, and OCU.
QUOTEABLE: “People aren't playing their best. We wanted to go with a big lineup to change things up. The offensive rebounds are frustrating. We had too many turnovers.” - Morrissey
FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest on OCU athletics through several ways.
Become a fan of the Oklahoma City University Stars on Facebook by going to www.facebook.com/ocustars.
Become a follower of the OCU Stars on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ocustars.
Check out video of the Stars in action at www.youtube.com/oklahomacityuniver.
Be sure to catch the OCU Athletics Update video program weekly on ocusports.com, the OCU YouTube Channel or on OCU Athletics' Facebook page. Click here to see the latest edition or see our video channel in the upper right-hand corner of our home page.
Listen to past game broadcasts and pregame and postgame interviews on the OCU pod center by clicking here.
Know when the game is happening by calling the OCU athletics hotline at (405) 208-5400. Get conference scores and highlights by calling the SAC Hotline at (405) 878-2110.
ON THE AIR: The game will be broadcast via the OCU athletics web site. Greg Merick serves as the voice of the Stars, while Andrew Himes will provide color commentary. Click here to listen to the broadcast.
