Men's Basketball 1/31/2014 3:04:00 PM

OCU at Northwood men's basketball preview

Stars look to snap two-game skid against Knights

Dorion Gigger provides 3.1 points and 2.8 rebounds off the bench for the Stars.

5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1
Nutting Arena Building at Trinity Christian High School in Cedar Hill, Texas

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University hits the road to take first-year Sooner Athletic Conference member Northwood (Texas).

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU narrowly fell to fourth-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) 65-62 Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars enter Saturday at 10-8 overall, 6-5 in SAC play and fifth in SAC men's basketball standings.
Forward R.J. McGhee paced the Stars with 20 points and four rebounds in 36 minutes of action. The 6-foot-6 senior from Baton Rouge, La., leads OCU in scoring during SAC play with 18.1 points per game. McGhee has scored 20 points or more in five games during conference play.
Senior Jamaal Crayton stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists against the Lions. The 6-foot-3 guard from Augusta, Ga., is averaging 10.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest. Crayton leads the Stars in assists and rebounds per outing.
Fellow senior Kaleb Smith added eight points, four rebounds and two steals against Southwestern Assemblies of God. The 6-foot-5 forward from Choctaw, Okla., leads the Stars with 1.61 steals per game. Smith is averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest.
Sophomore guard Jamil Donovan ranks 20th in NAIA Division I with an assists/turnover ratio of 2.5. To see how the Stars stack up statistically against the rest of the NAIA, click here.
OCU received votes in the most recent NAIA Division I top-25 poll. The Stars have been picked to finish fourth in the SAC in the preseason coaches poll. OCU has won national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU owns a 3-0 lead in the all-time series with Northwood. The Stars wrecked the Knights 100-84 on Jan. 6 at Abe Lemons Arena in the last meeting between the two sides.

ABOUT THE KNIGHTS: Northwood suffered a 77-76 loss at the hands of Southwestern Christian on Thursday at Pickens-Springer Gymnasium in Bethany, Okla. The loss dropped the Knights to 5-12 overall and 3-8 in SAC play.
Everette Pleasant led all scorers with 18 points and three rebounds against Southwestern Christian. The 6-foot-5 forward leads the Knights with 19.9 points and the SAC with 11.6 rebounds per contest.
Garry Jones added a season-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor against the Eagles. The 6-foot-5 guard is averaging 4.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
Jerrick Massenburge followed with 13 points and a team-high eight boards on the night. The 6-foot-4 forward averages 13.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing.
Northwood ranks fifth in NAIA Division I in defensive rebounds per game (30.8) and Pleasant ranks second individually in defensive rebounds per game (8.1). The Knights have been slated to finish 11th in the SAC by league coaches.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps owns a record of 39-33 in his third season as OCU coach. He led the Stars to the SAC Tournament title and an NAIA Division I Tournament appearance in 2012-13. 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.
Ray Wilkerson has guided Northwood to a 9-34 record in the program's second season of existence. Northwood went 4-22 in its first season.

QUOTABLE: "We only have Friday and I'm not sure how much can do tomorrow, but at the end of the day we have to go to work and try and figure out how to get a win." – Phelps on preparing for Northwood

FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest on OCU athletics through several ways.
Help OCU win an NAIA contest and gain more followers on social media in 2013-14. 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.

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