Men's Basketball 1/8/2014 3:26:00 PM

OCU vs. John Brown men's basketball preview

Jamil Donovan is averaging 2.5 points in eight games for the Stars this season.

8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9
Abe Lemons Arena

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University continues Sooner Athletic Conference action and plays host to nationally-ranked John Brown (Ark.).
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, while OCU students, faculty and staff are allowed into all regular-season OCU athletics events for free with their ID. For the OCU athletics visitors guide, click here.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars upended Northwood (Texas) 100-84 Monday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU shot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range to improve to 6-4 overall and 2-1 in SAC play.
Center Terrence Walker led the charge with 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field. The 6-foot-8 senior from Jonesboro, Ark., leads the Stars with a shooting percentage of 58 percent. Walker is averaging 10.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest this season.
Fellow senior Terry Johnson followed with 23 points, four assists and two steals against the Knights. The 6-foot guard from Chicago shot 50 percent from the floor against Norwood including 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point line and went 10-for-10 at the charity stripe. Johnson leads the Stars with 17.4 points per game.
Kaleb Smith, a senior from Choctaw, Okla., added 16 points on 54 percent shooting and five steals against Northwood. The 6-foot-5 forward scored in double figures for the fourth straight game and the seventh time this season. Smith averages 12.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per outing this season.
OCU is ranked 14th in NAIA Division I with 3.9 blocked shots per game. To see how the Stars stack up statistically with rest of the NAIA click here.
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.
The Stars own a 25-15 record in the all-time series with John Brown. In the last meeting between the two, OCU knocked off the Golden Eagles 77-72 to win the 2013 SAC Tournament championship.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES: John Brown, ranked No. 22 in NAIA Division I, fell 99-91 to Texas Wesleyan Saturday at the Sid Richardson Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The Golden Eagles enter the contest at 11-2 overall and 1-2 in SAC play.
Kofi Josephs led the Golden Eagles with a game and career-high 33 points and six assists in the 99-91 loss. The 6-foot-6 guard is the squad's second leading scorer at 17.6 points per contest.
Max Hopfgartner followed with 18 points on 61 percent shooting and 14 rebounds against the Rams. The 6-foot-9 forward is averaging 16.0 points per game and is ninth in NAIA Division I in field goal percentage at 61 percent.
Zach English chipped in with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists. The 6-foot-2 guard notched his season and career-high in points against Texas Wesleyan and averages 7.0 points per game.
The Golden Eagles are ranked fourth in NAIA Division I in field goal percentage (0.52) and 11th in total rebound margin (9.2). John Brown has been slated to finish third in the SAC by league coaches.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps owns a record of 34-30 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.
Clark Sheehy has a 133-66 record in his seventh year at John Brown and a 161-95 career record in nine years as a head coach. The son of former John Brown coach John Sheehy, Clark became a two-time all-conference selection playing for his father at John Brown. Prior to returning to his alma mater, Sheehy spent two seasons at the helm at Fresno Pacific (Calif.) and five seasons assisting at NCAA Division I Texas State.

QUOTABLE: "They have guys that can really shoot the basketball and they are very disciplined in what they do. We got a chance to watch them play a little bit, and they look as scary as they always do with great size and great shooting. They have a very talented player on the perimeter and some of the guys that came back have improved their games, so it's going to be another tough contest. Nothing is a given in this league." – Phelps on John Brown

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.
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 is the voice of the Stars. To access the live audio for the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here.
The live audio and stats will be provided free of charge, while the cost to see the video will be $7.95. A men's basketball season pass that allows you to see all the Stars' 2013-14 home games costs $29.95, while a 2013-14 all-sports pass costs $79.95.

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