OCU vs. Bacone men's basketball preview

Stars look to stay on winning track

Alex James had his career-high scoring performance vs. Bacone last season.

Men's Basketball | 1/27/2017 2:47:00 PM

5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28
Abe Lemons Arena inside Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University takes on Bacone in the second of three Saturday home Sooner Athletic Conference games for the Stars this season.
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.

ABOUT THE STARS: Oklahoma City pulled out a 95-93 win over USAO on Thursday night at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (14-5, 5-4 SAC) stopped their three-game losing skid as Ryan Wiley provided the difference-making tip-in at the buzzer.
Lou Dunbar, a 6-foot-3 junior from Seabrook, Texas, lifted OCU with 50 points, three assists and two steals, hitting an OCU record-tying 11 3-pointers. Dunbar recorded the first 50-point performance for OCU since the school joined the NAIA in 1985-86, falling five points shy of the program's single-game record and one point short of the conference mark. Dunbar supplies the Stars 16.4 points and 2.9 rebounds a game with 47.3 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Walter Rickett, a 6-2 junior from Dallas, chipped in 15 points and three assists while hitting 5 of his 8 shots from the floor. Rickett generates 7.8 points and 3.2 rebounds a game. Tyler Alderman, a 6-9 senior from Fishers, Ind., had 10 points, five rebounds and two steals on 5-for-6 shooting from the field. Alderman averages 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds a game with a 63.1 percent field-goal percentage.
OCU stands second in the NAIA with 5.42 blocked shots a contest and 103 rejections. To see how the Stars compare to the rest of the NAIA statistically, click here.
The Stars held the No. 8 spot in the latest national 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 has a 2-0 record vs. Bacone. The Stars finished the home-and-home season sweep of the Warriors with a 77-57 victory Feb. 18, 2016 at Abe Lemons Arena.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS: Bacone fell 106-70 to John Brown (Ark.) on Thursday in Siloam Springs, Ark. Bacone (4-13, 1-8 SAC) has dropped eight consecutive conference contests in a row after beating St. Gregory's in its league opener Dec. 1 in Muskogee, Okla.
Brandon Scott, a 6-6 senior, produced 13 points, four rebounds and three assists off the pine. Scott posts 11.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Brandon Chatman, a 6-foot senior, had 11 points and went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Chatman averages 10.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists a game.
Bacone has been projected to finish last in the 10-team SAC.

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.
Alan Foster has directed Bacone to a 283-381 record in his 17th season at the helm. Foster, also the Bacone athletic director, became 2004 Red River Athletic Conference coach of the year and guided Bacone to its only NAIA Tournament appearance in 2010.

QUOTABLE: "Thank God we got a win. We're playing really shorthanded. We knew we had to get through this weekend somehow and hope we get some guys back next week. I said it after the Texas Wesleyan game that's the proudest I've been of a group for fighting shorthanded. That's what won us the game is just the fight." – Patel on OCU's current mindset

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: 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, $34.95 to see all 2016-17 home basketball games and $79.95 to watch all of OCU's action in every sport in 2016-17.
Andrew Himes calls the action. Himes, in his sixth season as the voice of the Stars, has been broadcasting OCU games for nine years starting on color commentary as an OCU student.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#1 Walter Rickett: G; 6' 2"; Junior

#32 Ryan Wiley: F; 6' 7"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

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

#1 Walter Rickett
: 6' 2"; Junior
: G

#32 Ryan Wiley
: 6' 7"; Junior
: F