Men's Basketball 2/1/2013 2:37:00 PM

OCU vs. Lubbock Christian men's basketball preview

Kaleb Smith averages 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for OCU.

2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2
Abe Lemons Arena

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University looks for its third straight win as they host Sooner Athletic Conference foe Lubbock Christian (Texas).
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 smacked Wayland Baptist (Texas) 75-53 Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The win moved the Stars to 10-7 on the season and 3-6 in SAC play.
Troynell Adams, a senior from Chicago, led the charge with a career-high 34 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and 11-of-11 from the free throw line. The 6-foot-4 guard leads the squad with 15.9 points per game and is third on the team with 4.7 rebounds per contest. Adams has scored 18 points or more in five of his last six outings.
Guard Charlton Jones stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes of action. The 6-foot-1 senior from Katy, Texas, is seventh in NAIA Division I in assists/turnover ratio (6.4) and eighth in assists per game (6.4). Jones' 6.4 assists per game leads the Stars and the SAC.
Junior Terrence Walker notched nine points and shot 100 percent from the floor in the 75-53 victory. Walker, a 6-foot-8 forward from Jonesboro, Ark., averages 8.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game off the bench for the Stars. Walker is shooting 57 percent from the field on the season to lead the squad.
OCU sank 15-of-17 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes against Wayland Baptist and ranks seventh in NAIA Division I in free throw percentage (0.73), and reserve-guard Jamil Donovan leads the nation in assist/turnover ratio (5.1). To see how the Stars stack up with the rest of the NAIA, click here.
The Stars were projected to finish fifth place in the SAC in the preseason. OCU owns six national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU owns a 29-13 advantage in the all-time series with the Chaparrals. Lubbock Christian topped the Stars 81-71 in overtime on Jan. 10 at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas in their last meeting.

ABOUT THE CHAPARRALS: The Chaps suffered a 71-59 setback against Mid-America Christian Thursday at the Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City. Lubbock Christian enters the contest at 11-10 overall and 4-5 in SAC play.
Guard A.J. Luckey led the Chaparrals with 18 points in 36 minutes of work. The 6-foot guard leads the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game on 42 percent shooting from the field.
Jabril Durham notched 17 points and six assists off the bench for Lubbock Christian. The 6-foot-1 guard is 14th in NAIA Division I in assists per game (4.9) and 15th in total assist (103).
Eli Baker grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and added eight points against the Evangels. Baker leads the Chaparrals with 6.4 rebounds per game and is 14th in NAIA Division I with 3.0 offensive rebounds per contest.
Lubbock Christian shoots 38 percent from behind the 3-point line and is ninth in NAIA Division I in 3-point field goal percentage. The Chaparrals were picked to finish fourth in the SAC by league coaches.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps is in the midst 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.
Todd Duncan enters his second season as Lubbock Christian coach after serving 15 years as Lubbock Trinity Christian School (Texas) boy's basketball coach and athletic director. He notched 400 wins and the 1999 state championship. Duncan led the Chaparrals to a 15-15 record a season ago.

QUOTABLE: “We have to defend if we want an opportunity to pick up a win. Lubbock Christian is a very good team. They're a quick team with strong guards, so we're going to have to play high-level defense to get through this game.” – Phelps on Lubbock Christian

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.
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 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 women'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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