Men's Basketball 1/18/2012 3:42:00 PM

OCU at Southern Nazarene men's basketball preview

Troynell Adams scored 16 points against Wayland Baptist Saturday.

8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19
Sawyer Center in Bethany, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University continues Sooner Athletic Conference play with a road game against rival Southern Nazarene, ranked No. 14.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU pulled out a close 74-72 win over Wayland Baptist (Texas) Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars, now 9-5 overall and 6-4 in SAC play, have played four straight games that came down to the final possession, going 2-2 in those contests.
Senior Orlan Jackman led the charge for the Stars scoring 17 points and pulling down 11 rebounds against Wayland Baptist. The forward from London leads the team in scoring, 12.4 points per game, and rebounding pulling down 8.5 boards per game. Jackman is 24th in NAIA Division I in rebounds per game.
Guard Troynell Adams chipped in with 16 points in 35 minutes of action. The junior from Chicago tied his career and season highs with 16 points against Wayland Baptist. Adams also scored 16 points against Mid-America Christian on Nov. 22.
Shane Rogers, of Flower Mound, Texas, posted 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the 74-72 win. The senior guard has scored in double figures in his last three games and shot 42 percent from the floor and 35 percent from 3-point range in those games. Rogers is also averaging six rebounds per game in the last three games.
Point-guard Charlton Jones is currently eighth in NAIA Division I in assists per game with 6.2. To see how the Stars stack up statistically with the rest of NAIA Division I, click here.
OCU received votes in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. The Stars are fifth in the league standings after being predicted to finish seventh in the SAC in the preseason.
The Stars hold a 37-21 record all time against Southern Nazarene. The Crimson Storm stole a 63-55 overtime win earlier this season on Dec. 3 at Abe Lemons Arena.

ABOUT THE CRIMSON STORM: Southern Nazarene pulled off a 69-67 upset win over then No. 1 Oklahoma Baptist Saturday at the Sawyer Center. The Crimson Storm are currently 13-4 overall and 6-3 in SAC play.
Forward Tyrone Lyons posted 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and added eight rebounds against Oklahoma Baptist. Lyons is currently fifth in NAIA Division I in total blocks with 39, and seventh in blocks per game, swatting 2.29 per contest.
Jon West added 14 points and four assists in the 69-67 upset win. West averages 11.5 points per game and leads the team in free throw shooting, hitting 80 percent from the stripe.
Ryan Aaron chipped in with 11 points off the bench against Oklahoma Baptist. Aaron leads the Crimson Storm in scoring with 17.1 points per game and is 10th in NAIA Division I in field goal percentage, shooting 63 percent from the floor.
Southern Nazarene is ranked in the top-10 in NAIA Division I in five defensive statistical categories. The Crimson Storm currently sits tied for third in the SAC standings and were picked to finish third 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 at 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 Bulldogs Athletic Hall of Fame.
Adam Bohac enters his fourth season at Southern Nazarene. He has guided the Crimson Storm to an 86-31 record in his first three seasons as head coach. Bohac shared SAC coach of the year honors in 2009-10 with Oklahoma Baptist's Doug Tolin. Bohac was an assistant at SNU from 2004-07 and an assistant at Army in 2007-08.

QUOTABLE: “Obviously playing in games like that gives you some type of experience no matter how they turn out. You learn how to play in close games and I think what it does is prepare you for conference tournament play, and if we're fortunate enough to make it to the national tournament, it prepares you for that type of environment.” – Phelps on OCU's last four games

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 for the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here.
Southern Nazarene will provide live stats and live video for the game. To follow the game via live stats, click here, and to watch live video, click here.

Print Friendly Version