Men's Basketball 12/7/2011 3:09:00 PM

OCU vs. Mid-America Christian men's basketball preview

Sam Ferguson notches 6.3 points and 3.6 rebounds a game.

8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8
Abe Lemons Arena

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University aims for the season series sweep against Sooner Athletic Conference rival Mid-America Christian.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, while OCU students, faculty and staff are allowed into all regular-season OCU athletics events for free with their ID.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars fell 63-55 in overtime to 13th-ranked Southern Nazarene on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (5-2, 2-1 SAC) held Southern Nazarene to 39.6 percent shooting from the field, but the Crimson Storm hit 3 of 4 shots from the floor in overtime.
Troynell Adams, a 6-foot-4 junior from Chicago, and Cory Nicholson, a 6-7 junior from Harrah, Okla., shared team-high scoring honors with 10 points each. Adams added six rebounds, while Nicholson hit 4 out of 5 free throws. Adams supplies OCU with 7.1 points and 3.0 rebounds a game.
Orlan Jackman, a 6-6 senior from London, collected eight points, nine rebounds and three steals for OCU. Jackman averages 10.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.57 steals a game. Tim Morton, a 6-9 sophomore from Capital Heights, Md., records 10.6 points and 6.0 rebounds a game.
OCU ranks ninth in the NAIA holding opponents to a 37.4 percent field-goal percentage. The Stars' Charlton Jones hands out 7.0 assists a game to rank fourth nationally. To see how the Stars stack up statistically with the rest of the nation, click here.
The Stars were unranked in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. Concordia (Calif.) and Robert Morris (Ill.) were tied atop the rankings. OCU has been pegged to finish seventh in the SAC in the preseason.
OCU owns a 12-2 record against Mid-America all-time. The Stars prevailed 83-73 on Nov. 22 at the Gaulke Activity Center. Morton had 18 points and five rebounds.

ABOUT THE EVANGELS: Mid-America Christian dropped a 95-89 decision to USAO on Saturday in Chickasha, Okla. Brandon Williams nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game 77-77 with 5:12 left for Mid-America (4-3, 0-3 SAC).
Charlie Shorter, a 6-1 junior, led Mid-America with 22 points and 10 rebounds. He averages 18.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.57 steals a game. Camilo Valencia, a 5-9 junior, scored 16 points Saturday. He contributes 7.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.00 steals a game.
SAC coaches predicted Mid-America Christian would finish ninth in the league in the preseason.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps enters his first season as a head coach with OCU. Phelps took over the Stars after serving as assistant coach for Oklahoma. Phelps has been a part of four conference title teams as well as three NCAA Tournament teams during his 22-year coaching career. Phelps played for Texas Lutheran, eventually joining the Bulldog Athletic Hall of Fame.
Willie Holley is in his 38th season as head coach at Mid-America Christian. Holley has a career record of 741-473. He has led MACU to four NCCAA Division II national championships.

QUOTABLE: “Defensively we really didn't guard the ball like I hoped we would have. We got called on a couple fouls of our guys trying to help on screen situations, but that is going to happen and you have to learn to adjust. In the second half we felt like we had to continue to be aggressive and we weren't going to stop trying to be physical, that's who we are. Some nights it's going to be there for you and the referees aren't going to call it all the time, but tonight they were. But we can't step back from being aggressive because they are a physical team, so we have no choice. In the second half we stayed with what we were doing, and unfortunately we just didn't guard the ball well.” – Phelps

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/ocustars.
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.
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: OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. Greg Merick and Eric Rodgers will call the game. To access the live audio, stats or video for the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here.
The live audio and stats will be provided free of charge, while the cost to see the video will be $6.95. A men's basketball season pass that allows you to see all the Stars' 2011-12 home games costs $29.95, while an 2011-12 all-sports pass costs $79.95.

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