5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26
Sawyer Center in Bethany, Okla.
THE MATCHUP: In what proves to be virtually a must-win game for the Stars, Oklahoma City University takes on No. 15 Southern Nazarene to cap the regular season as OCU vies for a spot in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament.
ABOUT THE STARS: Oklahoma City University nabbed a wire-to-wire win over USAO on Senior Night Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars took the 82-67 victory due in no small part to a dominating 52-26 rebounding advantage.
OCU was led by Nate Flowers, a 6-foot-5 senior from Waldorf, Md., poured in 25 points and added 13 rebounds to notch his 15th double-double of the season. Flowers ranks second in the NAIA for defensive rebounds per game with a 7.6 average. Flowers puts up 12.6 points making 54.2 percent of his field goal attempts and 9.7 rebounds a game for the Stars.
Brandon Moton, a 6-3 junior from Beaumont, Texas, added 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals for the Stars. Moton posts a team-high 13.3 points to go with 2.5 rebounds a night.
Orlan Jackman and Bryant Williams both chipped in 14 points in the big win. The pair combined for 15 rebounds in the contest as well. Jackman, a 6-6 junior from London, boasts averages 12.2 points and 5.2 rebounds for OCU. Williams, a 6-9 senior from Austin, Texas, nearly tripled his season average of 5.6 points and 3.0 rebounds a game. Williams ranks 10th in the nation with 54 total blocks on the year.
OCU's 50.3 percent field-goal percentage and 496 total assists places the Stars among the NAIA's team leaders. To see where OCU stacks up statistically in the NAIA, click here.
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.
OCU holds the all-time series lead with a 37-19 record over the Crimson Storm. In their last meeting, Southern Nazarene came away from Abe Lemons Arena as 70-61 victors on Jan. 11.
ABOUT THE CRIMSON STORM: Southern Nazarene stared down the barrel of its third straight loss, but breathed a sigh of relief at the final buzzer with a 75-74 win over Mid-America Christian on Thursday.
The 15th-ranked Crimson Storm (22-7, 15-6 SAC) saw a 17-point halftime lead evaporate in the second half as the Evangels (13-14, 9-12 SAC) gave one final push to try to stay in the hunt for a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament berth.
Southern Nazarene was led by a 24-point performance from A.J. Thomas' hot hand. Thomas was 6-of-7 from the field, including sinking five treys and 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the narrow victory. Thomas, a 6-0 senior from Memphis, Tenn., scores 11.5 points a game and has a team-high 43 steals on the season.
Xavier Alexander added 17 points for the Crimson Storm while C.J. Henry chipped in 11 points. Alexander, a 6-6 senior from Forest Park, Okla., leads the team with averages of 13.3. points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per night. Henry, a 6-4 sophomore from Oklahoma City, puts up 13.2 points and 3.8 rebounds a contest for Southern Nazarene. The Crimson Storm's other double-digit scorer is Jon West. West, a 6-6 junior from Plano, Texas, adds 10.2 points and 4.6 rebounds a game.
SNU was picked to win the SAC, receiving 9 of 12 coaches votes in the preseason poll. Currently, the Crimson Storm is sitting tied for second with Rogers State, and one game back from conference-leading Oklahoma Baptist.
POSTSEASON IMPLICATIONS: In order for the Stars to make it into the eight-team field of the SAC tournament, OCU needs a win at Southern Nazarene or a loss by Mid-America Christian at USAO on Saturday.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Kevin Morrissey has posted a 49-40 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.
Adam Bohac has guided Southern Nazarene to a 70-27 record in his third season as head coach. Bohac shared SAC coach of the year honors last season with Oklahoma Baptist's Doug Tolin. Bohac was an assistant at SNU from 2004-07 and an assistant at Army in 2007-08.
QUOTABLE: “Those guards really took us to the free-throw line last game in here. One of the guards had more free-throw attempts than all my guards combined, so they're very physical and we've got to be ready for that.” – Morrissey on Southern Nazarene
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.
OCU HOSTS THE SAC TOURNAMENT: The nation's premier NAIA basketball conference stages its postseason tournament at Abe Lemons Arena on the campus of Oklahoma City University on March 3-5. You'll want to be part of the action as NAIA Division I Tournament berths will be at stake in the Sooner Athletic Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments. For information, visit the tournament page. To see the tournament commercial click here.
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. Follow along with live stats from the contest here and video here.
