Men's Basketball 2/20/2013 2:25:00 PM

OCU at Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball preview

Stars square off with ninth-ranked Oklahoma Baptist

Troynell Adams posts 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds a game this season.

8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21
Noble Complex in Shawnee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University starts a regular season-ending two-game road swing with a clash against ninth-ranked Oklahoma Baptist.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU cruised past St. Gregory's 88-65 on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (12-8, 5-7 SAC) built a 32-point advantage along the way.
Terry Johnson, a 6-foot junior from Chicago, spearheaded the Stars with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Johnson totals 15.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.59 steals per contest.
Shawn Grant, a 6-4 senior from San Jose, Calif., equaled his season high with 15 points while canning four 3-pointers. Grant supplies the Stars with 5.6 points and a 36.8 percent 3-point shooting percentage. Charlton Jones, a 6-1 senior from Katy, Texas, collected 15 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Jones averages 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.50 steals a game.
OCU ranks 10th in NAIA Division I with a 74.2 percent team free-throw percentage, while Jamil Donovan rates second nationally with a 3.72-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. To see how the Stars rank among national statistics, click here.
The Stars were projected to finish fifth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference in the preseason. OCU owns six national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU leads its series against Oklahoma Baptist 61-43. Oklahoma Baptist edged the Stars 72-69 on Jan. 19 at Abe Lemons Arena. Oklahoma Baptist overcame an eight-point deficit and held off the Stars. Troynell Adams led OCU with 18 points.

ABOUT THE BISON: Oklahoma Baptist stomped Mid-America Christian 92-59 on Feb. 14 in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Baptist (22-6, 10-4 SAC) allowed Mid-America to shoot 22.7 percent from the field.
Chase Adams, a 6-1 senior, compiled 23 points, six rebounds and four assists while draining seven 3-pointers. Adams has put together 14.9 points and 4.1 rebounds a game. Desmond Griffin, a 6-4 senior, had 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Griffin averages 5.9 points and 3.1 rebounds a game.
Oklahoma Baptist sat 10th in the latest rankings. The Bison were favored to win the SAC title in the preseason. Oklahoma Baptist allows the second fewest points in the NAIA at 59.7 per game.

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.
Doug Tolin has guided Oklahoma Baptist to a 359-92 record and the 2010 NAIA Division I title in his 13 seasons at the helm. Tolin's overall coaching record stands at 679-318 in 35 years as a head coach. Tolin sat out Oklahoma Baptist's 75-55 win over St. Gregory's on Feb. 12 at the Noble Complex with an illness that required a hospital stay.

QUOTABLE: “They got an opportunity to get on the floor and show what they can do. This was a week where we talked about everything that we had to do we had to do it together, and those guys bought into it.” – Phelps on each of the OCU seniors reaching double figures in scoring Saturday

ABOUT THE SAC TOURNAMENT: The nation's premier NAIA basketball conference stages its postseason tournament at the Noble Complex in Shawnee, Okla., on Feb. 27-March 2. NAIA Division I Tournament berths will be at stake in the Sooner Athletic Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments.

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 access the live audio for the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here.
Oklahoma Baptist will provide live stats and video of the game. To watch the game or follow via live stats, click here.

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