OCU at Philander Smith men's basketball preview

Stars plays its fourth consecutive game away from Abe Lemons Arena

Lou Dunbar ranks 16th in the NAIA with 2.91 3-pointers a game.

Men's Basketball | 12/20/2016 3:22:00 PM

6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21
Mims Gymnasium in Little Rock, Ark.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season in a road contest against Philander Smith (Ark.).

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten after a 67-57 setback to Haskell (Kan.) on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan. The Stars (10-1) remain one of 13 one-loss teams in NAIA Division I, while LSU-Alexandria (12-0) and Montana State-Northern (10-0) are the last undefeated teams.
Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot junior from St. Martinsville, La., posted 21 points and four steals while hitting 9 of 11 free throws. Bonhomme's 3-pointer cut OCU's deficit to four points early in the second half, but Haskell responded with a 7-0 run to push its lead to double digits. Bonhomme records 18.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.55 steals per game while shooting 89.1 percent from the free-throw line.
Syrus McDonald, a 6-foot senior from Flint, Mich., added 15 points and three assists. McDonald provides the Stars with 8.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per contest. Lou Dunbar, a 6-foot-3 junior from Seabrook, Texas, had eight points and four rebounds. Dunbar averages 15.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.27 steals a game with 48.5 shooting from 3-point range.
OCU stands second in the NAIA with 5.82 blocked shots a contest and 64 blocks. To see how the Stars compare to the rest of the NAIA statistically, click here.
The Stars moved up to No. 5 in the latest rankings. OCU has 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 improved to 3-0 all-time vs. Philander Smith after a 91-69 victory Dec. 22, 2015 at Abe Lemons Arena. Bonhomme contributed 13 points.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS: Columbia (Mo.) stunned Philander Smith 55-54 on Saturday in Little Rock, Ark., as Travis Vogt delivered the winning 3-pointer with four seconds left. Philander Smith (5-5) has lost four in a row.
Christopher Ward, a 6-5 senior, picked up 15 points and two steals off the bench. Ward accumulates 20.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Darrin Kee, a 6-1 senior, had 11 points and four rebounds. Kee averages 11.5 points a game.
Philander Smith has been projected to finish sixth in the seven-team Gulf Coast 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.
Todd Day took over as Philander Smith's head coach this season. Day became the University of Arkansas' leading scorer with 2,395 points and played on the Razorbacks' 1990 Final Four team. The Milwaukee Bucks selected him with the eighth overall pick of the 1992 NBA Draft. Day came to Philander Smith after being head coach at his alma mater, Memphis Hamilton High School (Tenn.).

QUOTABLE: "Our guys did not match their intensity from the tip, and the glaring thing that sticks out is the rebounding statistics. We haven't been beaten that badly on the glass all season." – Patel on Haskell's 49-31 rebounding advantage

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.
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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: The game will be available on live stats.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#3 Syrus McDonald: G; 6' 0"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

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

#3 Syrus McDonald
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme

#22 Lou Dunbar

#3 Syrus McDonald

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme

#22 Lou Dunbar

#3 Syrus McDonald