OCU at USAO men's basketball preview

Stars look to derail USAO's three-game win streak

5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23
USAO Fieldhouse in Chickasha, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University takes aim at another Sooner Athletic Conference road win in its second league away contest of the week at USAO.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars pulled out a 64-61 win over St. Gregory's on Thursday in Shawnee, Okla. OCU (7-6, 4-3 Sooner Athletic Conference) used Terence Bonhomme's 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to complete a comeback from a 15-point halftime deficit.
Noel Allen, a 6-foot-6 senior from Gutenberg, N.J., turned in 18 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Allen sank 7 of 10 shots from the field. He contributes 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Bonhomme, a 6-foot sophomore from St. Martinsville, La., notched 15 points and two steals. Bonhomme posts 16.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.00 steals a game along with a 38.4 3-point shooting percentage. Jamil Donovan, a 5-7 senior from Oklahoma City, had a season-best 11 points to go with four assists and two steals. Donovan averages 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists a game.
Bonhomme ranks 11th in NAIA Division I in steals, while the Stars' 33.8 defensive rebounds a game stands 18th nationally. To see how OCU ranks statistically in the NAIA, click here.
The Stars have been slotted to take sixth in the SAC according to the preseason coaches poll. Oklahoma City has won or shared the SAC regular-season championship 12 times, most recently in 2007-08. Oklahoma City owns six NAIA national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU's all-time mark vs. USAO is 34-17. The Stars won 88-75 on Feb. 21, 2015 at Abe Lemons Arena.

ABOUT THE DROVERS: USAO walloped John Brown (Ark.) 96-85 on Thursday in Chickasha, Okla. USAO (9-5, 4-2 SAC) remained unbeaten at home this season, improving to 6-0 at USAO Fieldhouse.
Rich McCalop, a 6-8 senior, exploded for a season-high 25 points to go with three rebounds and two blocks. McCalop delivers 13.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Taran Buie, a 6-2 junior, had 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. Buie averages 24.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.57 steals a game.
USAO's 90.8 points per game ranks ninth in NAIA Division I. Conference coaches predicted USAO to take seventh in the preseason.

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.
Chris Francis took over as USAO head coach in March 2015. Francis had been an assistant at USAO the past two seasons after previously serving as an assistant at LSU-Shreveport. Francis became a student assistant after setting the career record for games played at Rogers State.

QUOTABLE: "I have to give a lot of credit to Jordan Mason and Romello Chapman. They really brought some energy to open the half. That really sparked us and got us going. From there, it's what I've been hoping this team would do all along. We were pulling bodies in, and we were getting help from all the bodies we were pulling in the second half, and that wasn't the case in the first half. I think this team can do that, but I don't know what they have to do. They got to prepare a lot better than they did to open this game." – Patel on the Stars' second-half comeback Thursday

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. Listen to the game live by visiting OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Andrew Himes provides the commentary. Himes, in his fifth season as the voice of the Stars, has been broadcasting OCU games for eight years starting on color commentary as an OCU student.
Fans can follow the game via live video and live stats.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme: G; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#3 Jamil Donovan: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#1 Noel Allen: F; 6' 6"; Senior

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

#11 Romello Chapman: G; 6' 4"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: G

#3 Jamil Donovan
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#1 Noel Allen
: 6' 6"; Senior
: F

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

#11 Romello Chapman
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: G