Men's Basketball 2/17/2014 3:23:00 PM

OCU vs. St. Gregory's men's basketball preview

Stars, Cavaliers fight for third place in SAC standings

Ivan Matip provides 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game off the bench for OCU.

8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University continues Sooner Athletic Conference play looking to avenge an early-season loss to nationally-ranked St. Gregory's.
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: OCU fell 109-81 to Wayland Baptist (Texas) Saturday at the Hutcherson Center in Plainview, Texas. The loss moved the Stars to 13-9 overall and 9-6 in SAC play. OCU and St. Gregory's are currently tied for third place in the SAC standings.
Freshman Terence Bonhomme paced the OCU offense with 21 points, five rebounds and two steals against Wayland Baptist. The 6-foot guard from St. Martinville, La., notched career highs in points (21), rebounds (5) and made 3-pointers (4) against the Pioneers. Bonhomme is averaging 6.6 points in 17.2 minutes per game this season.
Guard Terry Johnson added 12 points and three steals off the bench for the Stars. The 6-foot senior from Chicago is the Stars leading scorer with 15.7 points per contest. Johnson also averages 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game for OCU.
Senior R.J. McGhee followed with 11 points, two assists and two rebounds in the loss. The 6-foot-6 forward from Baton Rouge, La., is averaging 17.5 points per game for the Stars during SAC play. McGhee is fourth on the team with 4.1 rebounds per outing.
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 32-3 advantage in the all-time series against St. Gregory's. In the last meeting between the two sides, the Cavaliers topped the Stars 85-78 on Jan. 11 at W.P. Wood Fieldhouse in Shawnee, Okla.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: Texas Wesleyan topped the 21st-ranked Cavaliers 85-68 Saturday at the Sid Richardson Center in Fort Worth, Texas. St. Gregory's enters the contest at 18-6 overall and 9-6 in SAC play.
Tilford Thornton led the Cavaliers with 19 points and two assists against the Rams. The 6-foot-2 guard averages 17.0 points per game and made seven 3-point jumpers against the Stars earlier in the season.
Marty Wilkerson was held to four points on 2-of-15 shooting from the floor by Texas Wesleyan. The 5-foot-9 guard is the SAC's leading scorer at 21.3 points per game and is ranked 10th in NAIA Division I with 119 total assists.
Josiah Campbell added nine points, seven rebounds and three steals in 31 minutes of action. The 6-foot-5 forward averages 10.9 points and leads the conference with 10.6 rebounds per outing.
The Cavaliers are 10th in NAIA Division I in field goal percentage (0.48) and 17th in scoring offense (87.5). St. Gregory's has been slated to ninth in the SAC by league coaches.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps owns a record of 42-34 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.
John Martin is in his sixth season as St. Gregory's coach with a 48-118 record since taking the helm. Martin played college basketball at St. Gregory's, when it was a junior college, and OCU.

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.

ON THE AIR: OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. Chris Cox will have the call. To follow the game via live audio, stats or video, 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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