Men's Basketball | 1/3/2018 3:52:00 PM
7:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 4
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University hits the court for the first time in 2018 against Sooner Athletic Conference foe Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas)
• Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students, and OCU students, faculty and staff get into all regular-season OCU home athletics events free with their ID
• When the Stars score 70 points, fans get a 2-for-1 combo coupon for Raising Cane's
ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City took a 74-67 verdict over Bacone on Dec. 16 in Muskogee, Okla. The Stars (9-2, 3-1 SAC) limited Bacone to a 32 percent field-goal percentage, a season low for an OCU opponent
• Lou Dunbar, a 6-foot-3 senior from Seabrook, Texas, reached season highs with 22 points and four 3-pointers. Dunbar downed 7 of 14 shots from the floor, 4 of 9 3-point attempts and 4 of 5 free throws. He has produced 5.7 points and 1.5 rebounds a game with 36.1 percent 3-point shooting
• Samuel Williams, a 6-8 senior from Reno, Nev., posted 18 points and seven rebounds while shooting 8-for-14 from the field. Williams contributes 18.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game with a 60.5 percent field-goal percentage
• Ridell Camidge, a 6-4 senior from Wilmington, N.C., leads OCU with 19.6 points a game. Camidge, the NAIA player of the week for Dec. 4-10, ranks ninth nationally with 3.27 3-pointers per game
• OCU rates 11th among NAIA Division I in team scoring at 94.1 points per game. Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot senior from St. Martinville, La., has an 89.3 percent free-throw percentage that ranks ninth in the NAIA. To see how OCU compares statistically vs. the NAIA in 2017-18, click here
• The Stars improved to 14th in the new NAIA Division I rankings released Tuesday. OCU opened the season at No. 12 in the preseason top 25. 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
• Southwestern Assemblies of God leads the series against OCU 5-4. The Stars toppled Southwestern Assemblies, then ranked 16th, 68-62 on March 3 at Abe Lemons Arena in the SAC Tournament semifinals. Dunbar topped OCU with 23 points. Eight of the nine games in the all-time series between the two teams have been decided by six points or less
ABOUT THE LIONS
• Southwestern Assemblies of God dropped its last game 86-67 to Cornerstone (Mich.) on Dec. 29 in Springfield, Mo., in the Assemblies of God Classic. Southwestern Assemblies (7-5, 1-3 SAC) put together its season low in scoring. Cornerstone holds the top ranking among NAIA Division II
• Joshua Williams, a 6-4 senior, supplied the Lions with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists
• SAGU received votes in the most recent NAIA poll
• SAC coaches slotted Southwestern Assemblies of God for sixth in the preseason conference poll
MEET THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (45-24, third season with OCU)
• Patel collected his second HoopDirt.com coach of the week honor for Dec. 4-10
• 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
Delton Deal (first season with Southwestern Assemblies of God)
• Came to Southwestern Assemblies of God after leading York (Neb.) to a 137-88 record in seven years
• Deal took York to the NAIA Division II Tournament three times, advancing to the 2016 tournament quarterfinals. York won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title in the school's first season in the league in 2016-17
• Deal directed Fort Worth Bethesda Christian (Texas) to the 2007 Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Class 3A state title and a 97-28 record in four years
ON THE AIR
• Oklahoma City University athletics provides live and on-demand audio, stats and video of its contests on OCU's Stretch portal. Cost to watch the game is $7.95 per game, $34.95 for a women's basketball season pass and $79.95 for an all-season pass in 2017-18
• Andrew Himes calls the action. 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
