Men's Basketball 1/9/2015 2:13:00 PM

OCU vs. Mid-America Christian men's basketball preview

Stars aim to pull away from pack in SAC

Ivan Jelencic chipped in six points and six rebounds Thursday.

5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University puts a three-game winning streak on the line at home against Mid-America Christian.
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 took down USAO 78-76 on Thursday at USAO Fieldhouse. OCU (6-3, 2-1 Sooner Athletic Conference) shot 71.4 percent (25-of-35) from the free-throw line and held USAO to 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from beyond the 3-point line.
Gary Inglett, a 6-foot-6 senior from Ardmore, Okla., scored a career-high 24 points for Oklahoma City and added six rebounds. Inglett averages 16.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. He ranks third in NAIA Division I in defensive rebounds with 7.5 a game.
R. J. McGhee, a 6-6 senior from Baton Rouge, La., contributed 19 points, seven rebounds and five steals. McGhee's 21.1 points per game ranks eighth in scoring in the NAIA. Tharone Chilton, a 6-2 senior from Tulsa, Okla., added 14 points and three rebounds. Chilton scores 15.8 points, grabs 3.1 rebounds and has 1.44 steals per game.
Oklahoma City rates ninth nationally with 86.2 points per game. To see how the Stars rate statistically among NAIA Division I, click here.
The Stars received votes in the first regular-season edition of the 2014-15 NAIA Division I rankings. OCU has been predicted to take fourth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference in the preseason. OCU has won six national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU leads the all-time series against Mid-America Christian 15-5. Mid-America won 87-85 on March 6, 2014 in the SAC Tournament quarterfinals in Shawnee, Okla. McGhee scored 21 points and had eight rebounds in the game.

ABOUT THE EVANGELS: Mid-America Christian controlled John Brown 74-67 in Oklahoma City. Mid-America (9-6, 2-1 SAC) held John Brown to 37.3 percent (25-for-67) shooting from the field.
Jerrick Massenburge, a 6-6 junior, scored 13 points off the bench while shooting 5-for-8 from the floor and hit three 3-pointers. Massenburge averages 11.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Semar Farris, a 5-5 senior, had 12 points and dished four assists. Farris averages 17.2 points and 5.3 assists per game.
Mid-America was picked to finish fifth in the preseason SAC coaches' poll.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps owns a record of 51-41 in his fourth 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.
Willie Holley is in his 42nd season as head coach of the Evangels. Holley has 788 career victories, which ranks second all-time in the NAIA. He also led Mid-America to its first-ever SAC Tournament victory last season. Holley announced that this will be his last year coaching the team.

QUOTABLE: "We got a really big spark from our bench, specifically Jonathan Reed's and Brandon Patten's energy that they brought to the floor was instrumental in creating momentum for the second half. I felt like we got really good looks, but it was almost like it had a seal on top of the basket. We were able to stay in the game defensively to be in a position to get the win." – Phelps on Thursday's win

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.
Fans can sign up to receive OCU Athletics SMS text message alerts, including the latest score updates and headlines from the Stars, by going here.
Fans can sign up to receive the latest OCU athletic headlines via e-mail by going here.
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 featuring Phelps 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. To follow the game via live audio, stats or video, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Andrew Himes will give the play-by-play.
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' home games this season costs $29.95, while a 2014-15 all-sports pass costs $79.95.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Gary Inglett: F; 6' 6"; Senior

#23 Brandon Patten: F; 6' 7"; Freshman

#11 Tharone Chilton: G; 6' 2"; Senior

#24 Jonathan Ellis: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#2 Gary Inglett
: 6' 6"; Senior
: F

#23 Brandon Patten
: 6' 7"; Freshman
: F

#11 Tharone Chilton
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

#24 Jonathan Ellis
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G