Men's Basketball 3/13/2013 10:40:00 PM

OCU bows out of NAIA Tournament 68-37 to Columbia

Walker tops Stars with 13 points

Charlton Jones led the Sooner Athletic Conference with 5.7 assists a game this season.

Box Score
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oklahoma City University ended its postseason push with a 68-37 loss to top-ranked and undefeated Columbia (Mo.) on Wednesday in the NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament at the Municipal Auditorium.
The Stars finished the season 17-11. Columbia (34-0) scored 68 points or fewer for the fifth time this season. OCU held the Cougars to 12 points below its season average and around the Stars' opponent average of 68.2 points per game.
Terrence Walker, a junior from Jonesboro, Ark., led the Stars with 13 points while shooting 5-for-10 from the field. Kaleb Smith, a junior from Choctaw, Okla., grabbed a team-high six rebounds and recorded a season-high five blocks, while Charlton Jones, a senior from Katy, Texas, also pulled down six rebounds for OCU.
OCU made its 20th all-time national-tournament appearance after capturing its ninth Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship. The Stars toppled two top 10-ranked teams en route to the league tournament title and won four in a row entering Wednesday night.
“One of the things that came together late in the season was just our guys decided they wanted to be a part of this,” OCU coach Dionne Phelps said. “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.”
Columbia allowed its fewest points in a game in 2012-13. Columbia entered the game ranked No. 1 in NAIA Division I in scoring defense at 56.0 points a game.
Ben Bowman's 3-pointer staked Columbia to a 20-3 lead at 8:43 left in the first half.
"Obviously we didn't play well and we didn't shoot the ball well at all and they did," Phelps said. "(Columbia) did a great job. I see why they are one of the top teams in the country. When you don't make shots, it makes the game really difficult."
OCU bid farewell to four seniors who led the Stars to 29 wins these past two seasons.
Jones had been the Stars' quarterback on the floor these past two years, becoming known for his ability to set up his teammates, for his versatility and willingness to do what the team needed. He compiled 739 points, 257 rebounds, 313 assists and 85 steals as a Star and led the SAC in assists in 2012-13. He had been named league player of the week, honorable-mention all-SAC, first-team all-conference and CoSIDA academic all-district and all-American. Jones is a criminal justice major and the son of Charlie and Vernita Jones.
Troynell Adams, a senior from Chicago, became known as OCU's defensive stopper. He finished his two-year Stars career with 586 points, 200 rebounds, 50 assists and 51 steals. He went for a career-high 34 points against Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Jan. 31 on the way to being named SAC player of the week. He garnered third-team all-conference acclaim this season. Adams is a kinesiology major and the son of Ethel Adams.
Shawn Grant, a senior from San Jose, Calif., provided OCU his outside shooting ability, leading the Stars in 3-pointers (40) and 3-point shooting (37 percent). His season highlights include two 15-point performances, five 3-pointers against Central Oklahoma on Nov. 8 and hitting a clutch, game-tying trey at Mid-America Christian on Feb. 5. Grant is a communications major and the son of Vernon and Carol Grant.
Elhadji Wade, a senior from Dhakar, Senegal, posted 265 points, 205 rebounds and 38 blocked shots in his two-year OCU career. His highlights include a 13-point game against nationally-ranked John Brown (Ark.) on Feb. 9 and a 13-rebound performance vs. Mid-America Christian on Jan. 22. Wade, a criminal justice major, is the son of Malick and Mada Wade.

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