OCU at John Brown men's basketball preview

Stars look to avenge earlier home loss vs. John Brown

5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30
Bill George Arena in Siloam Springs, Ark.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University seeks to even up the regular-season series with John Brown (Ark.) and stretch its winning streak to four games.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars edged Wayland Baptist (Texas) 70-67 on Thursday in Oklahoma City. OCU (9-6, 6-3 Sooner Athletic Conference) outlasted the Pioneers as Jonathan Reed blocked Robert Waters' 3-point attempt at the end of the game.

Lou Dunbar, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from Seabrook, Texas, made 4 of 4 shots from 3-point territory and shot 5-of-7 from the free-throw line to lead the Stars with 17 points. Dunbar averages 11.5 points a game and his 44.3 3-point percentage ranks 26th in NAIA Division I.
Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot sophomore from St. Martinville, La., added 13 points while hitting all eight of his foul shots. Bonhomme leads the Stars with 15.9 points and 1.87 steals a game. Dorion Gigger, a 6-5 junior from Oklahoma City, notched his second consecutive double-double and fifth of the season with a team-high 14 rebounds and 10 points. Gigger supplies OCU with 10.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Jamil Donovan rates 12th nationally with 5.4 assists per game, while the Stars' 33.9 defensive rebounds a game stands 17th 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 against John Brown is 29-16. John Brown handed the Stars their first conference loss of the season Jan. 9 75-64 at Abe Lemons Arena. The game was tied at 51-51 with 6:23 left to play when the Golden Eagles outscored OCU 24-13 down the stretch to seal the game. JBU shot 62.5 percent from behind the 3-point line, while OCU managed 16.7 percent.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES: John Brown cruised past St. Gregory's 80-64 on Thursday in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Golden Eagles (11-10, 4-5 SAC) led by 23 points at halftime after a 30-5 run to close the first half.
Ricky Roberts, a 6-3 junior, paced JBU with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while converting 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. Roberts averages 16.9 points and 5.4 rebounds a contest. Luke Moyer, a 6-1 guard, tallied 17 points, four rebounds and three assists. Moyer scores 16.5 points a game and ranks seventh in the nation in 3-point field goals made with 66. In the first meeting this year, Moyer scored a team-best 22 points and was 4-for-7 from 3-point land.
JBU's field-goal percentage defense of 39.4 ranks ninth in NAIA Division I. Conference coaches predicted the Golden Eagles to take fourth in the 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.
Jason Beschta enters his second season with the reins at John Brown. He has a 27-25 record at John Brown and an 89-61 overall head-coaching record. Beschta served as head coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan for three seasons.

QUOTABLE: "They were very physical with us, and they shot the ball extremely well. We couldn't hold Moyer in check, their second leading scorer now. We just didn't do a good enough job with our defensive assignments. We need to do a better job defending them in the half court. You know this will be a very difficult game on the road, but I know it's one our guys would like to get back after getting beat here in our own gym against them." – Patel on the rematch with John Brown on Saturday

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 here.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

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

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

#22 Lou Dunbar: G; 6' 3"; Sophomore

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

#22 Lou Dunbar
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: G

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

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