Men's Basketball 12/19/2012 12:51:00 PM

OCU at Northwood men's basketball preview

Kaleb Smith provided OCU with six points, eight rebounds, two assists and four blocked shots vs. Northwood on Dec. 5.

3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20
Nutting Arena Building at Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hill, Texas

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University puts its unbeaten road record on the line against Northwood (Texas) in a rematch of their Dec. 5 matchup.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU mauled Northwood 103-63 on Dec. 5 at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (6-1) surpassed 100 points for the first time under second-year coach Dionne Phelps.
Terry Johnson, a 6-foot junior from Chicago, produced a season-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field to lead six Stars in double-digit scoring. Johnson records 12.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.00 steals a game.
Troynell Adams, a 6-4 senior from Chicago, put together 18 points, six rebounds and two steals while sinking 7 of his 10 shots from the floor. Adams spearheads OCU with 15.0 points and 5.4 rebounds a game while connecting on 52.8 percent from the field this season. Shawn Grant, a 6-4 senior from San Jose, Calif., contributed 13 points, four rebounds and two assists. Grant aided OCU in building a 33-15 advantage in bench scoring. Grant averages 8.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while canning a team-high 43.2 percent from 3-point range.
OCU ranks fifth in NAIA Division I with 76.4 percent team free-throw percentage, while Jamil Donovan leads the nation with 15.0 assists per turnover. To see how the Stars rank among national statistics, click here.
The Stars broke into the top-25 rankings at No. 22 on Dec. 4 for the first time since March 2, 2010, spanning 26 sets of rankings. OCU showed up as receiving votes in the preseason ratings, three polls last season and the 2010-11 preseason poll. OCU owns six national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008. The Stars were picked to finish fifth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference in the preseason.
OCU won the first meeting between the two teams ever Dec. 5. Northwood is its inaugural season fielding a men's basketball team. Northwood, along with Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas), Southwestern Christian and Texas Wesleyan, enters the SAC next season.

ABOUT THE KNIGHTS: Northwood fell to 1-13 on the season with a 77-68 loss to Texas-Tyler on Dec. 15 in Tyler, Texas. Northwood snapped a 12-game losing string with an 84-68 triumph over St. Gregory's on Dec. 8 in Cedar Hill, Texas for the program's first victory ever.
Jose Cuervo, a 5-7 freshman, propelled Northwood with 18 points and three assists against UT-Tyler. Cuervo chips in 5.3 points a game. Justin Handy, a 6-1 junior, had 12 points on four 3-pointers on Dec. 15. Handy averages 5.6 points a game. Jabbar Reid, a 6-4 junior, leads the team with 18.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.14 steals a game.

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.
Ray Wilkerson guides Northwood into its inaugural season.

QUOTABLE: “We finally broke into the top 25. And as you know, and I think coach (Archie Randall) mentioned it, it's where you end up at the end of the year. It's nice to have it, but that's not the end. We're not even close to being done.” – Phelps on OCU being ranked

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 featuring Lauren Gober and OCU women's basketball coach Latricia Trammell 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. To access the live stats for the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here.

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