Men's Basketball 11/13/2013 3:35:00 PM

OCU vs. Central Oklahoma men's basketball preview

Senior Ivan Matip is averaging 6.0 points and 3.5 rebounds for the Stars.

7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14
Abe Lemons Arena

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University plays host to Central Oklahoma in an early-season test for both squads.
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 edged Langston 73-70 on Nov. 6 at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars got an old-fashioned 3-point play from Jamaal Crayton in the closing seconds to secure the victory and improve to 2-0 on the season.
Senior Terry Johnson paced the Stars with a game-high 19 points in 38 minutes of action. The 6-foot guard from Chicago added seven rebounds, three assists and one steal against the Lions. Johnson leads the Stars with 16.0 points and 2.0 steals per game.
Forward Kaleb Smith chipped in with 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks against Langston. The 6-foot-5 senior from Choctaw, Okla., shot 66 percent from the floor and 2-for-2 from 3-point distance in the 73-70 victory. Smith is second on the team with 12.5 points per game and third with 4.5 rebounds per outing.
Crayton, a senior from Augusta, Ga., netted nine points and grabbed six rebounds in addition to scoring the game-winning bucket. The 6-foot-3 guard averages 7.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
The Stars rank eighth in NAIA Division I in scoring defense per game (58.0) and ninth in blocks per game (5.5) while freshman forward Chris Campbell is first in free throw percentage (1.00) and junior center Dema Sane is 11th in blocks per game (2.5).
The Stars received votes in the NAIA Division I preseason coaches' poll and have been projected to finish fourth in the Sooner Athletic Conference by league coaches. OCU owns six NAIA national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU owns a 25-20 lead in the all-time series against Central Oklahoma. The two squads split a pair of meetings a season ago with OCU winning the second contest 68-66 on Nov. 17, 2012 at Hamilton Field House in Edmond, Okla.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS: Central Oklahoma topped Sooner Athletic Conference member Southwestern Christian 106-93 in its season opener Tuesday at Hamilton Field House.
Senior forward Josh Gibbs led the Bronchos with 24 points and 21 rebounds in the 106-93 victory. Gibbs led Central Oklahoma with 17.5 points per game a season ago and was an all-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association performer.
Jarrod McDaniel followed with 18 points and 11 assists for the Bronchos. The senior guard shot 45 percent from the floor and 50 percent from behind the 3-point line against Southwestern Christian.
Cal Andrews added 17 points and five rebounds off the bench against Southwestern Christian. The sophomore forward put up 11 of his 16 shots from 3-point range.
Central Oklahoma has been slated to finish fifth in the MIAA preseason coaches' poll and sixth in the media poll.

ABOUTH THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps owns a record of 30-26 his third season as OCU coach. He led the Stars to the SAC Tournament title and an NAIA Division I Tournament appearance in 2012-13. 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 five conference title teams as well as three NCAA Tournament teams during his 24-year coaching career. Phelps played for Texas Lutheran, eventually joining the Bulldog Athletic Hall of Fame.
Terry Evans enters his 12th season as the Bronchos' head man. Evans owns a record of 223-104 and has led Central Oklahoma to seven NCAA Division II national tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight appearance. As a player, Evans is the all-time leader in 3-point field goals and assists at Oklahoma.

QUOTABLE: "We need the week off. We have had a couple nagging injuries and so this is going to be a good period for us to have the opportunity to get some of those healed and get some treatment. We can get some shots up and get a chance to get to the free throw line and shoot some free throws." – Phelps on the eight-day layoff between 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. Andrew Himes provides the play-by-play. To follow the game via live audio, stats or video, 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. A men's basketball season pass that allows you to see all the Stars' 2013-14 home games costs $29.95, while a 2013-14 all-sports pass costs $79.95.

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