OCU at Langston men’s basketball preview

Stars face first road test against Langston

Terence Bonhomme scored 13 points, snagged five rebounds and dished two assists in OCU's season opener.

Men's Basketball | 10/31/2017 3:38:00 PM

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1
C. Felton Gayles Fieldhouse | Langston, Okla.

LIVE STATS

THE MATCHUP
• No. 12 Oklahoma City University (1-0) prepares to take on No. 19 Langston (1-0) in its first road test of the season
• Head coach Vinay Patel looks for back-to-back 2-0 starts with the Stars
• OCU has won four of the last five meetings between the Stars and the Lions

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City won its season opener 106-81 over Manhattan Christian (Kan.) on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars built a 22-point halftime lead behind 63.4 percent shooting from the field, and at one-point stretched the lead to 33 points in the second half.
• Ridell Camidge, a 6-4 senior from Wilmington, N.C., delivered a team-high 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting in his debut for OCU. He scored 14.5 points per game and became a second-team all-Lone Star Conference pick for Tarleton State (Texas) last season.
• Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot senior from St. Martinsville, La., scored 13 points, snagged five rebounds and dished two assists in his first game back since Jan. 5. Bonhomme scored 20 or more points in five of the 13 games he appeared in before missing the rest of the 2016-17 season due to injury.
• Big men Samuel Williams and Ivan Saicic both earned double-doubles in Saturday's win. Williams, a 6-8 senior from Reno, Nev., had 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Saicic, a 6-7 senior from Belgrade, Serbia, totaled 10 points and 10 boards.
• The Stars' dominance on the glass moved OCU to first in NAIA Division I men's basketball in offensive rebounds per game (22.0), second in total rebounds per game (56.0) and fourth in total rebound margin (+21.0).
• OCU has been slotted at No. 12 in the preseason NAIA Division I rankings. Oklahoma City has made 23 NAIA Division I Tournament appearances and won six national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
• The Stars have been picked to finish second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference according to the preseason coaches' poll. OCU owns 12 SAC regular-season titles and nine SAC Tournament crowns.
• Oklahoma City won its last meeting against Langston 90-86 on Nov. 22, 2016. Five Stars reached double-digits in the scoring column, including a 16-point performance from Lou Dunbar.
• OCU has a 20-4 record in the all-time series against the Lions.

ABOUT THE LIONS
• Langston defeated Haskell (Kan.) 82-54 in its season opener on Saturday. The Lions forced their opponent into 27 turnovers and 30.2 percent shooting in the victory.
• Dante Bailey, a 6-7 senior from Chicago, turned in an 18-point, 14-rebound performance in Saturday's win. Bailey joined the Lions after averaging 2.5 points and 1.0 rebound per game at UT Martin in 2016-17.
• Brandon Eboigbodin, a 6-5 senior from Tracy, Calif., added 10 points and 15 rebounds (nine offensive) against Haskell. He averaged 10.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per game for Peru State last season.
• Langston is installed at No. 19 in the preseason NAIA Division I rankings. The Lions come off a 24-10 season where they made it to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Division I Tournament before falling to William Penn (Iowa) 84-80.
• The Lions were chosen to finish third in the Red River Athletic Conference according to the preseason coaches' poll. Langston has won three RRAC Tournament championships, most recently in 2015-16.
• Langston's stingy defensive performance against Haskell earned them a No. 2 ranking in NAIA Division I men's basketball in points allowed per game (54.0), 3-point field goal percentage defense (14.8) and field goal percentage defense (30.2).

MEET THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (37-22, third season with OCU)
• Patel has guided two OCU all-Americans, including the Stars' first first-teamer since 2008; the 2017 Sooner Athletic Conference player of the year, the 2017 SAC co-defensive player of the year, a finalist for the Dark Horse Dunker competition, six all-conference performers and three academic all-SAC choices
• 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 the conference player of the year
• Patel spent nine years as assistant before serving as the head coach 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

Stan Holt (66-28, fourth season with Langston)
• During the 2015-16 campaign, Holt led Langston to their first RRAC tournament championship since the 2007-08 season when he defeated No. 1 ranked LSU-Alexandria. This past season the Lions advanced to the NAIA National Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in school history and finished the season ranked as the No. 8 team in the country.
• In total, Holt has produced 12 Red River All-Conference selections and one three-time NAIA All-American in Curtis Jones.
• Before landing at Langston, Holt coached at the high major NCAA Division I level, the high school level and for elite level summer basketball camps.
• While on staff at University of Southern California (USC), Holt contributed to the development of players such as Toronto Raptors All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan, forward Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Taj Gibson.

FOLLOW THE STARS
• Follow along Saturday's game via live stats or updates on Twitter from @OCUHoops

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#24 Ivan Saicic: F; 6' 7"; Senior

#23 Samuel Williams: F; 6' 8"; Senior

#3 Ridell Camidge: F; 6' 4"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

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

#24 Ivan Saicic
: 6' 7"; Senior
: F

#23 Samuel Williams
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F

#3 Ridell Camidge
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F