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Oklahoma City University Athletics

Oklahoma City University
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Caleb House
Caleb House had a season-best six points and two 3-pointers Feb. 18 against Bacone.

Men's Basketball

OCU at Texas Wesleyan men's basketball preview

Stars bring 2-3 record against ranked opponents this season into Thursday's game

8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25
Sid Richardson Center in Fort Worth, Texas
 
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University challenges Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season champion and top five-ranked Texas Wesleyan in an away contest.
 
ABOUT THE STARS: Oklahoma City took an 84-76 loss to USAO on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. USAO downed 31 of 46 free throws against the Stars (13-9, 10-6 SAC) to establish a new season high for OCU opponents in free-throw tries.
Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot sophomore from St. Martinville, La., collected 32 points and made 5 of 11 3-point shots. Bonhomme struck for his fourth 30-point performance of the season. He tops the Stars with 17.5 points and 1.86 steals per contest as well as an 84 percent free-throw percentage.
Jordan Mason, a 6-2 junior from Ennis, Texas, posted 12 points, six rebounds and two steals in his ninth consecutive start. Mason provides OCU with 6.0 points and 2.4 rebounds a game and 6.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest as a starter. Jonathan Reed, a 5-7 sophomore from Powder Springs, Ga., had 11 points. Reed averages 5.6 points, 2.2 assists and 1.32 steals per game.
The Stars haul in 13.3 offensive rebounds a game to rank 17th, while Dorion Gigger's 9.3 rebounds a game ranks 13th among NAIA Division I. To see how OCU ranks statistically among NAIA Division I, click here.
OCU made the NAIA rankings for the fourth consecutive week, this time at 25th. The Stars had been slotted to take sixth in the Sooner Athletic Conference according to the preseason coaches poll. Oklahoma City has won or shared the SAC regular-season championship 12 times, most recently in 2007-08. OCU has captured six national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
The Stars have an 11-10 edge in the all-time series. OCU toppled Texas Wesleyan, at the time ranked 20th, 72-67 on Dec. 8, 2015 at Abe Lemons Arena. Bonhomme fueled the Stars with 22 points and five treys.
 
ABOUT THE RAMS: Texas Wesleyan sewed up its first SAC regular-season championship with a 78-66 triumph over Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Saturday in Waxahachie, Texas. Texas Wesleyan (23-4, 14-2 SAC) is riding a 17-game win streak with the past seven coming in double digits.
Dion Rogers, a 6-foot junior, picked up 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Rogers stuffs the stat sheet with 12.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.64 steals a game. Chris Gracela, a 6-2 senior, had 16 points and nine rebounds. Gracela averages 8.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.41 steals a game.
Texas Wesleyan moved to third in the last NAIA top 25. Texas Wesleyan ranks third nationally with 44.3 rebounds and a rebounding margin of plus-10.7 per game. The Rams were picked to finish fifth in the league 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.
Brennen Shingleton has led Texas Wesleyan to a 72-47 record in his third season as head coach. Shingleton spent 10 years as a Texas Wesleyan assistant before ascending to the top job.
 
QUOTABLE: "We were in position down the stretch. We had some quick shots and turnovers in the last three or four minutes when it was a one-possession game. That's not what we were doing when we got back into it. We were taking good shots, we were sharing the basketball and we were moving it around and getting better looks than that. We need to clean that stuff up moving forward to give ourselves a chance." – Patel on the Stars' performance 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: Fans can follow the game via live video and live stats on Texas Wesleyan's Stretch portal.
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Players Mentioned

Dorion Gigger

#32 Dorion Gigger

F
6' 5"
Junior
Jordan Mason

#24 Jordan Mason

G
6' 2"
Junior
Terence Bonhomme

#5 Terence Bonhomme

G
6' 0"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Dorion Gigger

#32 Dorion Gigger

6' 5"
Junior
F
Jordan Mason

#24 Jordan Mason

6' 2"
Junior
G
Terence Bonhomme

#5 Terence Bonhomme

6' 0"
Senior
G