Men's Basketball 3/12/2013 2:38:00 PM

OCU vs. Columbia men's basketball preview

Stars square off with 33-0 Columbia

Shawn Grant has nailed 37.4 percent of his 3-point shots this season.

NAIA Division I Tournament
7 p.m. Wednesday, March 13
Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University makes its upset bid against top-ranked and unbeaten Columbia (Mo.) in its first NAIA Division I Tournament appearance since 2010.
OCU has won national titles in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008. For ticket information, click here.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU earned its national-tournament berth with a 77-72 victory over fourth-ranked John Brown (Ark.) on March 2 in Shawnee, Okla., capturing the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament title. The Stars (17-10) knocked off two top 10-ranked teams en route to the league tournament crown and improved to 5-3 against ranked opponents this season.
Charlton Jones, a 6-foot-1 senior from Katy, Texas, collected 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. Jones picked up the SAC Tournament most valuable player and first-team all-league honors. Jones averages 14.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.58 steals a game.
Terry Johnson, a 6-foot junior from Chicago, scored 17 points against John Brown. Johnson earned all-tournament in the SAC Tournament as well as honorable-mention all-conference. Johnson provides OCU with 15.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.56 steals per contest. Troynell Adams, a 6-4 senior from Chicago, chipped in 15 points and five rebounds. Adams, a third-team all-SAC and SAC Tournament all-tournament selection, contributes 13.6 points and 4.4 rebounds a game.
OCU ranks 10th in NAIA Division I with a 72.7 percent team free-throw percentage, while Jamil Donovan ranks seventh nationally with a 2.75-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. To see how the Stars rank among national statistics, click here.
OCU has beaten Columbia twice previously in national-tournament play. The Stars prevailed 91-64 on March 16, 2006 in the first round of the NAIA Tournament at Municipal Auditorium. OCU reached the 2006 national championship game and finished runner-up.

ABOUT THE COUGARS: Columbia rolled to a 77-63 victory over Park (Mo.) on March 5 in Columbia, Mo., to win the American Midwest Conference Tournament for the second consecutive year. Columbia (33-0) set the single-season school record for wins.
Jordan Dressler, a 6-8 senior, totaled 20 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Dressler, the league MVP, posts 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds a game. Devin Griffin, a 6-foot junior, had 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Griffin averages 13.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.49 steals a game.
Columbia has been the No. 1 team in the NAIA rankings eight consecutive weeks. Columbia leads the NAIA in points allowed (56.0 points per game), blocked shots (145), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.63-to-1) and scoring margin (24.9 a game).

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps has guided OCU to a 29-25 record 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.
Bob Burchard has put together a 630-225 record in 24 years directing Columbia. The NAIA Hall of Famer has led Columbia to 17 national-tournament appearances and three consecutive American Midwest Conference regular-season championships. He was AMC coach of the year for the eighth time.

QUOTABLE: “One of the things that came together late in the season was just our guys decided they wanted to be a part of this. It's very special to be a part of the NAIA national tournament. They really wanted to be a part of this. Like I told them, no one is going to give it to you. You have to go out there and make that decision you want to do it, get out there, work, scrap and will your way to this opportunity, so they did. They decided as a team this was something they wanted to do. They came together on their own and decided they wanted to be a part of something special.” – Phelps on what has spurred the Stars into the national tournament

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.

STAYING IN OKC? Come to the student lounge of the Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center on the OCU campus to watch the game.

ON THE AIR: The first 28 games of the Championships will be video-streamed live on the NAIA web site, costing $9.95 per day or $29.95 for a tournament pass. Click here for details. Every national-tournament game can be followed through live stats.

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