OCU in St. Gregory's Thanksgiving Classic preview

Stars test themselves against two ranked teams

Walter Rickett has supplied OCU with 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds a game while shooting 69.6 percent from the field this season.

Men's Basketball | 11/23/2016 9:27:00 PM

6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25
vs. Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)
3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26
vs. LSU-Shreveport
Don Sumner Fieldhouse in Shawnee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University meets its first challenges from top 25-ranked foes in the St. Gregory's Thanksgiving Classic.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars hung on for a 90-86 win over Langston on Tuesday at Abe Lemons Arena. Lou Dunbar and Jonathan Reed hit free throws in the last 15 seconds to help Oklahoma City (4-0) clinch the win.
Tyler Alderman, a 6-foot-9 senior from Fishers, Ind., produced season highs with 16 points, four assists and five blocked shots. Alderman turns in 10.5 points, 6.0 boards and 2.00 rejections a contest.
Dunbar, a 6-3 junior from Seabrook, Texas, picked up 16 points and five rebounds while shooting 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Dunbar supplies OCU with 18.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.75 steals per contest this season. He has sank 50 percent of his 3-point shots this season. Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot junior from St. Martinville, La., had 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Bonhomme averages 13.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
OCU leads the NAIA with 7.75 blocks per game after a 14-block effort Tuesday. See how the Stars rank among the NAIA's statistical leaders, click here.
The Stars held the 18th spot in the preseason national poll. The Stars have been picked to take second 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.
OCU holds a 2-1 edge in the all-time series against Our Lady of the Lake (Texas). Our Lady of the Lake dealt the Stars a 79-57 loss Dec. 30, 2015 in San Antonio. Bonhomme topped OCU with 19 points.
The Stars will have their first encounter with LSU-Shreveport in men's basketball.

ABOUT THE SAINTS: Our Lady of the Lake suffered its first loss of the season 81-72 to Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Tuesday in Plainview, Texas. Wayland Baptist hit 56.7 percent of its shots from the field in the second half to doom Our Lady of the Lake (2-1).
Joe Jackson, a 6-6 senior, provided Our Lady of the Lake with 11 points and three steals Tuesday. Jackson leads his team with 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.67 blocks a game.
Our Lady of the Lake stood 14th in the NAIA preseason rankings and took the second spot in the preseason Red River Athletic Conference coaches poll.

ABOUT THE PILOTS: LSU-Shreveport posted a 103-89 victory over Tougaloo (Miss.) on Monday in Tougaloo, Miss. LSU-Shreveport (5-0) set a team record for free-throw percentage in a game by sinking 25 of 26 free throws for a 96.2 percentage.
Cameron Biedscheid, a 6-7 senior, poured in 31 points while nailing 7 of 12 3-point shots. Biedscheid totals 22.2 points and 4.2 rebounds with a 47.4 percent 3-point shooting percentage.
LSU-Shreveport was 24th in the preseason NAIA top 25 and predicted to finish third in the Red River Athletic Conference.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Vinay Patel enters his second season as OCU head coach. In his first year, Oklahoma City finished 15-11 and tied for second in the Sooner Athletic conference. Before coming to OCU, he spent one season as Rogers State's assistant coach and aided the Hillcats 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 holds a 70-27 head-coaching record in his fourth season as Our Lady of the Lake. The Saints have made two national-tournament appearances in a row under Wall's leadership. Our Lady of the Lake advanced to the NAIA Tournament quarterfinals last season.
Kyle Blankenship has guided LSU-Shreveport to a 92-41 record in his fifth season as head coach. LSU-Shreveport has qualified for the NAIA Tournament all four seasons under Blankenship with an appearance in the 2013 Fab Four. Blankenship played college basketball at LSU-Shreveport and the University of Tulsa.

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, YouTube and 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: St. Gregory's will provide live video and stats from the classic that will be available by clicking here.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#4 Tyler Alderman: C; 6' 9"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#4 Tyler Alderman
: 6' 9"; Senior
: C