Men's Basketball 11/19/2012 5:01:00 PM

OCU at Langston men's basketball preview

Tim Morton chips in 6.5 points and 5.3 rebounds a game for OCU.

7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20
C. Felton Gayles Gymnasium in Langston, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University takes to the road to meet in-state rival Langston.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU squeaked past Central Oklahoma 68-66 on Saturday in Edmond, Okla. The Stars (3-1) closed out the game after Central Oklahoma took a 59-57 edge with 3:22 remaining.
Troynell Adams, a 6-foot-4 senior from Chicago, stood front and center for OCU with 21 points and eight rebounds while shooting 6-for-10 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. Adams tops the Stars with 14.5 points to go with 5.3 rebounds a game this season.
Kaleb Smith, a 6-5 junior from Choctaw, Okla., came off the pine to total a season-high 14 points, five rebounds and three 3-pointers. Smith chips in 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Terry Johnson, a 6-foot junior from Chicago, pitched in 13 points and seven rebounds. Johnson averages 12.5 points and 3.8 rebounds a game.
OCU ranks fourth in NAIA Division I with 25.8 defensive rebounds a game. To see how the Stars rank among national statistics, click here.
The Stars received votes in the preseason NAIA Division I rankings. OCU owns six national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008. OCU was picked to finish fifth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference in the preseason.
OCU leads the overall series against Langston 17-3. The Stars bested Langston 96-76 on Dec. 2, 2006 at Abe Lemons Arena. Duane John led OCU with 21 points and nine rebounds.

ABOUT THE LIONS: Fourth-ranked Robert Morris (Ill.) dealt Langston a 73-64 loss on Nov. 14 in Chicago. Langston (1-3) committed 20 turnovers.
Joey Atkinson, a 6-6 junior led Langston with 13 points and eight rebounds. Atkinson records 7.8 points and 2.4 rebounds a game. Bayshon Payne, a 6-2 senior, had 12 points and three rebounds. Payne provides Langston with 9.4 points and 1.6 rebounds a game.
Langston is expected to finish eighth in the 12-team Red River Athletic Conference.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps enters his second season as OCU coach. Phelps took over the Stars after serving as assistant coach for Oklahoma, which featured future No. 1 NBA Draft pick Blake Griffin during his tenure. Phelps has been a part of four conference title teams as well as three NCAA Tournament teams during his 23-year coaching career. Phelps played for Texas Lutheran, eventually joining the Bulldog Athletic Hall of Fame.
Nigel Thomas has directed Langston to a 15-35 record in his third season. Thomas played point guard and served as assistant coach to Greg Webb prior to taking over the head job.

QUOTABLE: “We are still in that process of trying to find out who we are and our identity. One of the things I've always talked to our guys about is that when we hit the floor we are going to compete and play as hard as we can.” – 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.

ON THE AIR: OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. Andrew Himes will provide the play-by-play of the game. To access the live audio or stats for the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. The live audio and stats will be provided free of charge.

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