Men's Basketball | 11/28/2018 3:23:00 PM
7:45 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29
Abe Lemons Arena inside Freede Center
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University opens Sooner Athletic Conference play against Langston
• Langston plays its first league game as an SAC member
• 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 95-89 win over Randall on Nov. 20 in Moore, Okla. The Stars (5-1) buried a season-high 36 free throws in 43 tries to close their non-conference slate
• Chris Williams, a 6-foot-2 senior from Denver, turned in season highs with 32 points, five steals and 13 free throws made in 14 attempts for the Stars. Williams also grabbed five rebounds in 31 minutes of play. Williams produces 23.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.67 thefts a game with a 42.9 percent 3-point shooting clip
• Joe Clarke, a 6-3 senior from New Rochelle, N.Y., posted 17 points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor against Randall. Clarke records 14.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while hitting 52.9 percent from the field
• The Stars rank ninth in NAIA Division I by hitting 77.1 percent of their free-throw attempts and producing a plus-14.5 rebounding margin. See how OCU compares with the rest of the NAIA statistically this season here
• OCU has been slotted at No. 5 in the preseason NAIA Division I rankings. Oklahoma City has made 24 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 first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference according to the preseason coaches poll. OCU owns 13 SAC regular-season titles and nine SAC Tournament crowns
• OCU slipped past Langston 95-88 on Nov. 1, 2017 in Langston, Okla., in the last non-conference contest between the two schools. Oklahoma City improved its all-time record against Langston to 21-4. Terence Bonhomme scored 38 points while going 21-for-21 from the free-throw line to set program single-game marks for free throws made and free-throw percentage
ABOUT THE LIONS
• Langston remained unbeaten with an 84-71 win over Philander Smith (Ark.) on Nov. 20 in Langston, Okla. Langston (6-0) sank a season-best 12 3-pointers
• Malik Young, a 6-1 senior, had 22 points while shooting 6-for-7 from the field and 4-for-4 from beyond the 3-point line in 18 minutes. Young averages 10.5 points a game with a 40 percent 3-point percentage
• The Lions grab 13.5 offensive rebounds a game as a team to rank 14th among the NAIA
• Langston stood sixth in the preseason SAC coaches poll
• In the preseason NAIA top 25, Langston received votes
ABOUT THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (65-32, fourth season with OCU)
• Patel has guided three OCU all-Americans, including the Stars' first first-teamer since 2008, 2017 Sooner Athletic Conference player of the year, the 2017 and 2018 SAC co-defensive player of the year, a finalist for the Dark Horse Dunker competition, 11 all-conference performers and four academic all-SAC choices. He is the 2018 John Hudson SAC coach of the year
• 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 (92-40, fifth season with Langston)
• Langston has posted three consecutive 20-win seasons and NAIA Division I Tournament appearances under Holt
• Guided Langston to the 2017 NAIA Division I Tournament quarterfinals
• Directed the Lions to the 2016 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 25-7 mark
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 men'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
