OCU at Bacone men's basketball preview

Stars visit Bacone for first basketball game ever between two teams

Noel Allen has a 54.3 percent field-goal percentage.

Men's Basketball | 1/6/2016 1:49:00 PM

8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7
Palmer Center in Muskogee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University faces first-year Sooner Athletic Conference member Bacone.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU took an 87-74 setback to West Texas A&M on Saturday in Canyon, Texas. Terence Bonhomme's jumper in the paint cut the Stars' deficit to 70-68 with 8:07 left. The Stars finished the non-conference slate 5-4 overall, 3-4 in non-league games.
Bonhomme, a 6-foot sophomore from St. Martinsville, La., piled up a career-high 30 points to go with four assists and two steals. Bonhomme picked up SAC player of the week after averaging 24.5 points a game last week. He posts 16.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.38 steals a contest.
Dorion Gigger, a 6-5 junior from Oklahoma City, contributed eight points and seven rebounds. Gigger adds 11.7 points and 10.0 rebounds a game, ranking sixth in the NAIA with 7.3 defensive boards a game. Evan White, a 6-4 senior from San Antonio, had eight points, three rebounds, two blocked shots and two 3-pointers. White averages 7.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
The Stars hold opponents to 29.9 percent shooting from 3-point territory to rank 17th in the NAIA. To see how OCU ranks statistically in the NAIA, click here.
OCU picked up votes in the last national rankings. 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.
The Stars take on Bacone for the first time ever in men's basketball. Bacone entered the SAC this season.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS: Bacone picked up 98-92 loss to Oklahoma Wesleyan on Dec. 17 in Muskogee, Okla. Bacone (1-12, 0-2 SAC) saw its losing streak stretch to seven games after beating Philander Smith (Ark.) 78-64 on Nov. 17 in Muskogee, Okla.
Brandon Chatman, a 6-foot junior, spearheaded Bacone with 28 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Chatman supplies Bacone with 17.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game. Evan Stewart, a 6-2 sophomore, had 23 points, four rebounds and three treys. Stewart averages 11.1 points and 4.3 rebounds a game.
Bacone's 72.8 percent free-throw percentage ranks ninth nationally. Bacone was picked to finish last in the SAC.

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.
Alan Foster has directed Bacone to a 277-355 record in his 16th season at the helm. Foster became 2004 Red River Athletic Conference coach of the year and guided Bacone to its only NAIA Tournament appearance in 2010.

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 by visiting OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. 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.
Bacone will provide live video that will be available by clicking here.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme

#32 Dorion Gigger

#12 Evan White

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme

#32 Dorion Gigger

#12 Evan White