Walter Rickett provides OCU with 7.7 points a game while sinking 59.6 percent from the floor.

Men's Basketball 12/8/2017 11:10:00 AM

OCU at John Brown men's basketball preview

Stars aims for conference road win

5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9
Bill George Arena in Siloam Springs, Ark.

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University looks to build momentum when the Stars visit Sooner Athletic Conference foe John Brown (Ark.)
• John Brown wraps up its first semester of the season with this game

ABOUT THE STARS
• The Stars handed seventh-ranked USAO its first loss of the season 92-80 on Wednesday at Abe Lemons Arena. Oklahoma City (7-2, 1-1 SAC) improved to 2-1 against ranked teams this season
• Jonathan Ellis, a 5-foot-7 senior from Powder Springs, Ga., fell one point shy of his career high with 19 points. Ellis shot 7-for-8 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 3-for-4 on free throws. He dished out six assists and snagged three steals. Ellis' career best of 20 points came vs. Mid-America Christian on Jan. 5 at Abe Lemons Arena. Ellis provides OCU with 5.5 points and 1.50 steals while leading the team with 3.4 assists per game
• Ridell Camidge, a 6-4 senior from Wilmington, N.C., chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds. Camidge posts 18.1 points and 6.0 rebounds a contest while sinking 40 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Camidge ranks 11th in the NAIA with 3.11 3-pointers made per game
• OCU piles up 95.3 points per game to rank ninth in NAIA Division I in team scoring. Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot senior from St. Martinville, La., tops the NAIA with a 97.6 percent free-throw percentage and leads the team with 19.2 points per game. To see how OCU compares statistically vs. the NAIA, click here
• The Stars went to 23rd in the newest NAIA Division I top 25 released Tuesday. 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 owns a 32-16 advantage in the overall series against John Brown. The Stars fended off John Brown 76-72 on Feb. 9 at Abe Lemons Arena after opening up a 21-7 lead early

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
• John Brown rallied past Central Christian (Kan.) 84-72 on Tuesday night in McPherson, Kan. John Brown (6-3, 2-0 SAC) faced a 35-16 deficit late in the first period. Josh Bowling put the Golden Eagles in front 65-64 on a pair of free throws midway through the second half
• Bowling, a 6-6 sophomore, finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five steals while going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Bowling contributes 10.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.22 blocked shots a game
• Jake Caudle, a 6-1 freshman, had 19 points, eight rebounds and two steals with a 6-for-6 performance at the free-throw stripe. Caudle averages 22.0 points and 3.6 rebounds with a 50.9 percent 3-point shooting percentage
• SAC coaches put John Brown at seventh in the league poll before the season

ABOUT THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (43-24, 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

Jason Beschta (49-53, fourth season with John Brown)
• Has produced five all-SAC performers at John Brown including honorable-mention all-American Max Hopfgartner
• Beschta directed Oklahoma Wesleyan to a 62-36 record in three years. Beschta became Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference coach of the year as the Eagles went 25-10, shared the conference regular-season title and reached the second round of the NAIA Division II Tournament in 2013-14
• Beschta has an overall coaching record of 111-89 in his seventh season as a head coach

ON THE AIR
• John Brown athletics provides live and on-demand audio, stats and video of its contests on its Stretch portal
• Oklahoma City University will carry live and on-demand audio of the contest on OCU's Stretch portal
• Andrew Himes describes the play-by-play. Himes enters his seventh season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 10 years starting on color commentary as an OCU student
• Fans can access regular-season broadcasts from NAIA institutions as well as from NAIA Championships postseason contests via Stretch Internet through custom apps on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Users can search for "NAIA" on the app interfaces on any compatible device, and then download the free NAIA Network app

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Players Mentioned

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

#2 Jonathan Ellis: G; 5' 7"; Senior

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

Players Mentioned

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

#2 Jonathan Ellis
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

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

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme

#2 Jonathan Ellis

#3 Ridell Camidge

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme

#2 Jonathan Ellis

#3 Ridell Camidge