OCU vs. Our Lady of the Lake men's basketball preview

Stars look for first official win of season

Jordan Mason downed four 3-pointers in OCU's two exhibitions.

Men's Basketball | 11/23/2015 5:13:00 PM

7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University makes its 2015-16 regular-season debut against top 25-ranked Our Lady of the Lake (Texas).
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. If the Stars score 70 points, fans will get a prize from Raising Cane's. For the OCU athletics visitors guide, click here.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars played its final exhibition of the season, falling 103-51 to Midwestern State (Texas) on Nov. 15 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Oklahoma City managed 31.4 percent shooting from the field.
Jordan Mason, a 6-foot-2 junior from Ennis, Texas, provided OCU its only double-digit scorer with 10 points and two 3-pointers. Mason chipped in 10 points and two steals against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Nov. 7.
Dorion Gigger, a 6-5 junior from Oklahoma City, added seven points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Gigger posted five points, six rebounds and two blocked shots Nov. 7. Jonathan Reed, a 5-7 sophomore from Powder Springs, Ga., and Evan White, a 6-4 senior from San Antonio, each had six points. White tallied nine points against Southwestern.
The Stars shot 73.6 percent from the free-throw line as a team to rank sixth among NAIA Division I in 2014-15. To see how OCU ranked statistically in the NAIA, click here.
OCU garnered votes in the preseason national rankings. The Stars have been slotted to take sixth in the SAC according to the preseason coaches poll. Oklahoma City owns six NAIA national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
The Stars won the only other meeting between the two schools in men's basketball. OCU prevailed 83-73 on Nov. 19, 2011 in San Antonio.

ABOUT THE SAINTS: Our Lady of the Lake absorbed a 95-78 exhibition loss to Lubbock Christian (Texas) on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas. Our Lady of the Lake (1-0) completed a two-game West Texas swing after winning 114-97 over Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Friday in Plainview, Texas.
Joe Jackson, a 6-6 junior, stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds, five blocks and three steals. Jackson fueled OLLU against Wayland Baptist with 23 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and six blocks. Dilepso Blanco, a 6-2 junior, had 14 points, two steals and three 3s at Lubbock Christian. Blanco added eight points and three assists at Wayland Baptist.
Our Lady of the Lake appeared in the preseason rankings at No. 25. Our Lady of the Lake tied for third in the Red River Athletic Conference preseason poll.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Vinay Patel embarks on his first season as OCU head coach. He came to Oklahoma City after spending one season as Rogers State's assistant coach. He aided Rogers State to a 20-8 season led by conference player of the year Frederico Santos. Patel spent nine years as assistant at West Texas A&M. During that time, West Texas went to the NCAA Division II Tournament five times, won the Lone Star Conference championship and took two Lone Star South Division titles. He elevated to the interim head-coaching position before he ended his time at West Texas A&M.
Ryan Wall is in his third year as Our Lady of the Lake head coach with a 47-17 record. In July 2012, he was named assistant coach, and in 2013-14, he took over as interim head coach for the Saints. In May 2014, he officially became the head coach.

FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest from OCU athletics through several ways.
Check out OCU athletics on several social media platforms by looking up the handle @ocustars. The Stars are on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and new for 2015-16, Instagram.
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 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. Follow the game via live audio, stats and video by visiting OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Cost to watch the game is $7.95 per game, $29.95 to see all 2015-16 home games and $79.95 to watch all of OCU's action in every sport in 2015-16.
Andrew Himes provides the play-by-play, entering his fifth season as the voice of the Stars. Himes has been broadcasting OCU games for eight years starting on color commentary as an OCU student.

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Players Mentioned

#32 Dorion Gigger: F; 6' 5"; Junior

#2 Jonathan Ellis: G; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#12 Evan White: G; 6' 4"; Senior

#24 Jordan Mason: G; 6' 2"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#32 Dorion Gigger
: 6' 5"; Junior
: F

#2 Jonathan Ellis
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: G

#12 Evan White
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G

#24 Jordan Mason
: 6' 2"; Junior
: G