OCU vs. Mid-America Christian men's basketball preview

Stars look to improve on 2-2 mark vs. ranked teams this season

Evan White posted 13 points, five rebounds and three 3-pointers Saturday.

Men's Basketball | 2/3/2016 4:10:00 PM

8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4
Abe Lemons Arena inside Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University faces Mid-America Christian in a tussle between ranked teams tied at one game out of first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, while OCU students, faculty and staff are allowed into all regular-season OCU athletics events for free with their ID. If the Stars score 70 points, fans will get a prize from Raising Cane's. For the OCU athletics visitors guide, click here.

ABOUT THE STARS: Oklahoma City kept John Brown (Ark.) at bay in a 76-67 win Saturday in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Stars (10-6, 7-3 Sooner Athletic Conference) took its fourth win in a row as Jordan Mason nailed the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:42 remaining.
Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot sophomore from St. Martinsville, La., collected 23 points, four 3-pointers and two steals. Bonhomme supplies OCU with 16.3 points, 2.0 assists and 1.88 steals a contest to go with a 39.6 percent 3-point shooting clip.
Evan White, a 6-4 senior from San Antonio, registered 13 points, five rebounds and three treys. He adds 7.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Dorion Gigger, a 6-5 junior from Oklahoma City, had 10 points and 10 rebounds for his third consecutive double-double and sixth one of the season. Gigger averages 10.8 points and 9.2 rebounds a game.
Gigger hauls in 6.6 defensive rebounds a game to ranks 10th nationally and lead the Stars to 33.6 defensive rebounds a game to stand 16th in the NAIA. To see how OCU ranks statistically in the NAIA, click here.
OCU entered the rankings for the first time this season at No. 25. 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.
Oklahoma City's record vs. Mid-America Christian sits at 16-7. Mid-America won 92-78 on Jan. 14 in the Gaulke Activity Center.

ABOUT THE EVANGELS: Mid-America Christian fell 91-71 to 12th-ranked Texas Wesleyan on Saturday in Oklahoma City. Mid-America (17-5, 7-3 SAC) saw its 12-game home winning streak end.
Chris Runnels, a 6-6 senior, picked up 14 points and six rebounds Saturday. Runnels chips in 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Nick Tate, a 6-2 senior, had 12 points and eight rebounds. Tate averages 16.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.55 steals a game.
Mid-America, currently ranked 12th in NAIA Division I, piles up 18.1 assists a game to rank fifth in the NAIA. Conference coaches put Mid-America Christian at second in the preseason SAC 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.
Josh Gamblin came to Mid-America Christian following a stint as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma. He spent two years as assistant coach at Southwestern Christian and 2011-12 as an intern video coordinator for the Los Angeles Clippers under Vinny Del Negro.

QUOTABLE: "Our effort and intensity in the first half was as good as I've seen it this year. We got help from a lot of people tonight and was able to come up with a huge one on the road." – Patel on the Stars' win 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. Follow the game via live audio, stats and video by visiting OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Cost to watch the game is $7.95 per game, $29.95 to see all 2015-16 home games and $79.95 to watch all of OCU's action in every sport in 2015-16.
Andrew Himes calls the action. 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.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#24 Jordan Mason: G; 6' 2"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#24 Jordan Mason
: 6' 2"; Junior
: G