Men's Basketball 1/21/2013 4:53:00 PM

OCU vs. Mid-America Christian men's basketball preview

Stars host Evangels in special Tuesday engagement at Abe Lemons Arena

Jamil Donovan leads the NAIA with a 6.0-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22
Abe Lemons Arena

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University concludes its three-game home Sooner Athletic Conference set against Mid-America Christian.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students. OCU students, faculty and staff get in free to all Stars regular-season home events with their university ID.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU dropped a 72-69 decision to fourth-ranked Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (8-6, 1-5 SAC) held Oklahoma Baptist to 40.7 percent shooting from the field.
Troynell Adams, a 6-foot-4 senior from Chicago, spearheaded the Stars with 18 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots. Adams shot 5-for-10 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Adams contributes 13.8 points and 4.8 rebounds a game.
Kaleb Smith, a 6-5 junior from Choctaw, Okla., collected 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals while hitting 6 of 10 shots from the field. Smith adds 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds a game. Terry Johnson, a 6-foot junior from Chicago, and Charlton Jones, a 6-1 senior from Katy, Texas, each scored 11 points.
OCU is ranked fourth in NAIA Division I in free-throw percentage (76 percent), and Jones leads the SAC with 6.6 assists a game. To see how the Stars stack up against the rest of the NAIA, click here.
The Stars received votes in the latest NAIA rankings. OCU has been predicted to finish fifth in the SAC by league coaches. OCU has won or shared the SAC regular-season championship 12 times in 1987, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008. OCU has won six national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU has gone 13-2 against Mid-America Christian. The Stars won 78-68 on Dec. 8, 2011 at Abe Lemons Arena as Jones supplied OCU with 15 points, three rebounds and two assists.

ABOUT THE EVANGELS: Mid-America Christian lost 76-58 to 10th-ranked John Brown (Ark.) on Saturday in Siloam Springs, Ark. Mid-America (8-6, 3-2 SAC) struggled shooting from the field, hitting 40 percent of its shots – 34.5 percent in the second half.
Angelo Lewis, a 6-4 junior, turned in 15 points and four rebounds Saturday. Lewis averages 14.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.29 steals per game. Charlie Shorter, a 6-1 senior, had 13 points and four rebounds. Shorter ranks second in the league with 21.3 points per game.
Mid-America Christian was picked to finish eighth in the SAC by league coaches.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps is 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.
Willie Holley is in his 39th season as head coach at Mid-America Christian. Holley has a career record of 759-490. He has led MACU to four NCCAA Division II national championships.

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 dialing (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. Eric Rodgers will call the game. To access the live video, 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, 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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