Men's Basketball 2/27/2013 3:54:00 PM

OCU at Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball preview

Stars open postseason play in SAC Tournament quarterfinals

Terry Johnson earned honorable-mention all-SAC acclaim this season.

Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals
8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28
Noble Complex in Shawnee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University takes on tournament-host Oklahoma Baptist in the first round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU capped regular-season play with an 80-77 victory over Rogers State Saturday at the Claremore Expo Center in Claremore, Okla. The win moved the Stars to 14-10 overall and 7-9 in SAC play.
Guard Charlton Jones hit the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired and led the Stars with a game-high 25 points. The 6-foot-1 senior from Katy, Texas, added eight assists and six rebounds against Rogers State and leads OCU with 6.0 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game. Jones is eighth in NAIA Division I in assist/turnover ratio (2.8), ninth in assists per game (6.0) and 12th in total assists (140).
Junior Kaleb Smith chipped in with a season-high 14 points on 71 percent shooting from the floor and 66 percent from 3-point range. The 6-foot-5 forward from Choctaw, Okla., averages 6.7 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Stars. Smith has scored 14 points four times this season. OCU is 5-1 when Smith scores in double figures.
Senior Shawn Grant hit three 3-pointers and added 11 points off the bench against the Hillcats. The 6-foot-4 forward from San Jose, Calif., averages 5.8 points on 37 percent shooting from 3-point land for OCU on the season. Grant has scored in double figures eight times this season.
OCU is 11th in the nation in free throw percentage (0.72) and 14th in assist/turnover ratio (1.0) while freshman Jamil Donovan is seventh in assists/turnover ratio (2.8). To see how the Stars stack up against the rest of the NAIA, click here.
The Stars enter the SAC Tournament as the No. 7 seed. OCU owns eight SAC Tournament championships won in 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2008.
OCU leads its series against Oklahoma Baptist 61-44. The Bison edged the Stars 77-72 Feb. 21 at the Noble Complex. Oklahoma Baptist topped OCU 90-85 in overtime in the SAC Tournament a season ago.

ABOUT THE BISON: Oklahoma Baptist, ranked No. 8 in NAIA Division I men's basketball, rolled fourth-ranked John Brown (Ark.) 73-49 Saturday at Bill George Arena in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Bison finished their regular season with an overall record of 24-6 and a SAC mark of 12-4.
David Johnson paced the Bison with 24 points, four rebounds and three assists against the Golden Eagles. Johnson averages 13.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game for Oklahoma Baptist.
Clinton Houston notched 15 points on 70 percent shooting from the floor and grabbed nine rebounds against John Brown. Houston averages 9.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest.
Kameron Price added 11 points and shot 100 percent from the free throw line in the 73-49 victory. Price averages 11.3 points and leads Oklahoma Baptist with 1.90 steals per game.
The Bison are ranked second in nation in scoring defense per game (59.7) and fifth in total rebound defense (30.9) and scoring margin (17.5). Oklahoma Baptist earned the No. 2 seed in the SAC Tournament and was favored to win the SAC title in the preseason.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps is in the midst of 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 361-92 record and the 2010 NAIA Division I title in his 13 seasons at the helm. Tolin's overall coaching record stands at 681-318 in 35 years as a head coach.

QUOTABLE: “OBU is a well coached team. They bring a whole lot of confidence to the game because they've had opportunities to play for national championships. The last time we played we had the lead at halftime and a little bit into the second half, so our guys believe they can play with them. It just comes down to being able to prove it. When you're playing a team that is as talented and as confident as OBU, you're going to have to go out and beat them because they won't beat themselves.” – Phelps on Oklahoma Baptist

ABUOT 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. An automatic NAIA Division I Tournament berth will be at stake in the Sooner Athletic Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments. For more information visit the tournament page.

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: Oklahoma Baptist will provide live stats and video of each tournament game. OBU offers video for $9.95 per game.
To watch the game, click here. To follow the game via live stats, click here. Keep up with all the tournament games by clicking here.

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