Men's Basketball 1/18/2013 3:39:00 PM

OCU vs. Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball preview

Shawn Grant averages 6.1 points per game for the Stars.

5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19
Abe Lemons Arena

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University looks to rebound from three straight losses in a matchup with Sooner Athletic Conference rival Oklahoma Baptist.
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: OCU suffered a 79-71 setback against 20th-ranked Rogers State Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars are now 8-5 on the season with a 1-4 record in SAC play.
Guard Terry Johnson led the OCU charge with 23 points, four rebounds and three assists. The junior from Chicago is the Stars' leading scorer averaging 16.2 points per contest on 46 percent shooting from the field. Johnson is ranked fifth in NAIA Division I in free throw percentage shooting 88 percent from the charity stripe.
Senior Charlton Jones posted 20 points and pulled down six rebounds against the Hillcats. The 6-foot-1 guard from Katy, Texas, leads OCU in assists (6.5) and rebounds (5.1) per game. Jones is sixth in NAIA Division I in assists per game (6.5) and 15th in assists/turnover ratio (2.6).
6-foot-4 Troynell Adams, of Chicago, snatched eight rebounds and two steals to go along with 14 points against Rogers State. The senior guard is third on the squad in steals per game (1.08) and rebounds per game (4.9). Adams averages 13.4 points per outing on 43 percent shooting from the field.
OCU is ranked fourth in NAIA Division I in free throw percentage (0.75) and 11th in assist/turnover ratio (1.2) while freshman Jamil Donovan is first in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (7.2). To see how the Stars stack up against the rest of the NAIA, click here.
The Stars received votes in the latest national rankings. OCU owns six national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008. The Stars were projected to finish fifth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference in the preseason.
OCU leads the overall series against Oklahoma Baptist 61-42. Oklahoma Baptist ousted the Stars from the 2012 SAC Tournament by a count of 90-85 in overtime on March 1, 2012 at Bill George Arena in Siloam Springs, Ark.

ABOUT THE BISON: Oklahoma Baptist, ranked No. 4 in NAIA Division I, narrowly fell 75-70 to No. 10 John Brown (Ark.) Thursday at the Noble Complex. The Bison enter Saturday at 15-4 overall and 3-2 in SAC play.
Forward Clinton Houston led the Bison against the Golden Eagles with 17 points and 14 rebounds. The 6-foot-7 senior averages 8.1 points and 5.8 rebounds off the bench.
Leading-scorer David Johnson shot 40 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range but was held to seven points in the loss. The senior guard averages 13.4 points per game and is 12th in NAIA Division I in field goal percentage at 57 percent.
Junior Kameron Price notched 10 points and four assists against John Brown. The 6-foot-3 guard averages 13.4 points per game and is 13th in NAIA Division I with 45 total steals.
Oklahoma Baptist is fifth in NAIA Division I in scoring defense (59.4) and sixth in scoring margin (18.9). The Bison were favored to win the SAC in the pre-season coaches' poll.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps has led the Stars to a 20-20 record in 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.
Doug Tolin has guided Oklahoma Baptist to a 352-90 record and the 2010 NAIA Division I title in his 13 seasons at the helm. Tolin's overall coaching record stands at 672-316 in 35 years as a head coach.

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 Desiree Jeffries and OCU men's golf coach Kyle Blaser 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. To access the live audio, stats or video for the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here.
Andrew Himes will call the action. The live audio and stats will be provided free of charge, while the cost to see the video will be $7.95 per game. A men's basketball season pass that allows you to see all the Stars' 2012-13 home games costs $29.95, while an 2012-13 all-sports pass costs $79.95.

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