OCU vs. Southwestern Assemblies of God men's basketball preview

Stars vie to secure SAC Tournament home quarterfinal

Syrus McDonald has contributed 9.4 points and 3.4 assists a game this season.

Men's Basketball | 2/22/2017 3:54:00 PM

8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University welcomes Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) to town in a matchup of two top-25 teams playing for second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference. OCU will honor seniors Tyler Alderman, Syrus McDonald and Xavier Smith prior to tipoff.
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: The Stars scratched out a 67-65 win over St. Gregory's on Saturday in Shawnee, Okla. Jonathan Reed hit the winning layup as time expired for OCU (19-7, 10-6 in the SAC).
Smith, a 6-foot-9 senior out of Richardson, Texas, produced 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in the win. He currently sits third in the NAIA with 2.46 blocks per contest. He also leads the team with 15.5 points and 9.1 rebounds a game this season.
Lou Dunbar, a 6-3 junior out of Seabrook, Texas, scored 12 points and grabbed two rebounds while going 4-for-8 beyond the arc. Dunbar supplies the Stars with 15.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.96 made 3-pointers per game. Reed, a 5-7 junior from Powder Springs, Ga., came off the bench and produced 12 points, two assists and two steals. His winning layup moved OCU to 8-2 in games decided by five points or less this season. He averages 7.1 points, 3.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.77 steals per contest.
OCU ranks second among the NAIA in blocked shots a game (5.12) this season. See how the Stars rank among the NAIA's statistical leaders, click here.
The Stars moved to 19th in the latest NAIA Division I 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.
SAGU holds a 4-3 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools. The Lions nipped OCU 76-73 on Jan. 7 in Waxahachie, Texas. Dunbar led all scorers with 32 points.

ABOUT THE LIONS: SAGU fell 91-82 to Mid-America Christian on Saturday in Oklahoma City. The Lions were outscored 34-14 in the paint and 50-35 in the second half to drop to 20-8, 10-6 SAC.
Keyunta Watkins, a 5-8 senior, scored 28 points while dishing out four assists and grabbing three rebounds in the loss. Watkins accumulates 19.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He also ranks second in the NAIA with 3.57 made 3-pointers per game. Isaak Rowe, a 6-6 sophomore, had 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. Rowe averages 12.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.71 steals a contest.
SAGU leads the NAIA in total steals (357) and steals per game (12.75). The 21st-ranked Lions were picked to win the SAC in the preseason.

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.
Donnie Bostwick is in his sixth season as head coach of the Lions. He has a 137-54 overall record at SAGU and led the Lions to a second-place finish in the NAIA Tournament in 2013.

QUOTABLE: "It's going to be a really tough game for us. They beat us already this year at their place and every game in this conference is a battle. It's a huge week for us because this conference is so jumbled up. There's no telling where we're going to fall and we're not only fighting for seeding in the conference tournament, but we're also trying to position ourselves to get a bid for the national tournament." – Patel on the importance of the last week of the regular season

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

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

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

#3 Syrus McDonald: G; 6' 0"; Senior

#11 Xavier Smith: C; 6' 9"; Senior

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#3 Syrus McDonald
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G

#11 Xavier Smith
: 6' 9"; Senior
: C

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