Men's Basketball 1/13/2012 12:32:00 PM

OCU vs. Wayland Baptist men's basketball preview

Dionne Phelps has led the Stars to an 8-5 record in his first season as OCU coach.

3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14
Abe Lemons Arena

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University continues Sooner Athletic Conference play with a home date against Wayland Baptist (Texas).
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 suffered a 62-59 setback to Lubbock Christian (Texas) on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (8-5, 5-4 SAC) played its sixth game this season decided by five points or less.
Shane Rogers, a 6-foot-4 senior from Flower Mound, Texas, sparked OCU with 16 points and five rebounds. He shot 2-for-3 from 3-point range Thursday night. Rogers contributes 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.58 steals per game.
Orlan Jackman, a 6-6 senior from London, provided OCU with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Jackman fell one rebound shy of his OCU career high of 15 rebounds he grabbed against Mid-America Christian on Nov. 22. Jackman averages 12.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.46 steals a game. Charlton Jones, a 6-1 junior from Katy, Texas, and Tim Morton, a 6-9 sophomore from Capital Heights, Md., chipped in 10 points each.
Jones' 6.3 assists average rates second in the SAC and seventh nationally. To see how the Stars stack up statistically with the rest of NAIA Division I, click here.
The Stars received votes in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. OCU are tied for fifth in the league standings after being predicted to finish seventh in the SAC in the preseason.
OCU has gone 35-10 against Wayland Baptist over the years. In the most previous meeting, the Stars won 54-49 on Jan. 29 in Plainview, Texas. Jackman posted 12 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor.

ABOUT THE PIONEERS: Wayland Baptist rallied to beat Mid-America Christian 86-81 on Thursday in Oklahoma City. Wayland Baptist (8-8, 2-6 SAC) erased a 17-point deficit to win.
Robert Curtis, a 6-10 junior, had 17 points and nine rebounds. He compiles 14.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. Isaiah Jackson, a 6-6 senior, had 17 points and six rebounds off the bench Thursday. He averages 14.8 points and 5.7 rebounds.
SAC coaches slotted Wayland Baptist to finish 11th in the conference 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.
Matt Garnett took over as Wayland Baptist coach after leading McMurry (Texas) to a 21-7 finish and the American Southwest Conference Tournament title last season. Garnett became an all-American playing for Wayland Baptist.

QUOTABLE: “You could outrebound the other team, and it gives you extra possessions, but you're giving those back when you turn the ball over like we did.” – Phelps said after OCU had a 45-25 rebounding advantage and 21 turnovers Thursday

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 Jay Pitts 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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