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Oklahoma City University Athletics

Oklahoma City University
Home Of Champions|73 National Championships
Jonathan Ellis
Jonathan Ellis scored 12 points and dished two assists in Thursday's win at USAO.

Men's Basketball

OCU vs. Mid-America Christian men’s basketball preview

Stars look to extend five-game winning streak

2:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3
Abe Lemons Arena Inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City welcomes Sooner Athletic Conference opponent Mid-America Christian to Abe Lemons Arena, aiming to even the season series at one game apiece
• The Stars own a share of first place in the conference, joining No. 7 USAO and No. 24 Texas Wesleyan at the top of the standings
• 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 won a 114-108 double-overtime thriller over No. 7 USAO Thursday night in Chickasha, Okla. The Stars (16-5, 9-4 SAC) had six players with double digits in points and shot 47.6 percent from downtown
• Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot senior from St. Martinville, La., went for 28 points, four rebounds and four assists against USAO. It was his fourth consecutive game putting up double-digit points and bumped up his season average to 17.1 points per contest
• Ivan Saicic, a 6-foot-7 senior from Belgrade, Serbia, tallied 19 points and seven rebounds for the Stars on Thursday. He gives OCU 9.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.13 assists per game this season
• Among NAIA Division I, Oklahoma City ranks seventh in scoring offense per game (92.4), 14th in free throw percentage (73.4) and 15th in offensive rebounds per game (12.6). To see how OCU ranks against the NAIA in other categories, click here
• The Stars improved to No. 15 in the latest 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 fell to MACU in the most recent meeting between the two programs, 77-70 on Dec. 2 at the Gaulke Activity Center. OCU leads the all-time series between the two programs 17-10

ABOUT THE EVANGELS
• Mid-America Christian defeated Central Christian (Kan.) 74-61 Thursday in McPherson, Kan. The Evangels (13-8, 7-6 SAC) held their opponent to just six percent shooting from beyond the arc and had 10 blocks
• Jordan Rhodes, a 6-9 senior from Fountain, Colo., leads Mid-America Christian in scoring with 14.6 points per game. Rhodes went for 12 points and two blocks in Thursday's win over Central Christian
• Among NAIA Division I, Mid-America Christian ranks sixth in defensive field goal percentage (39.1), 12th in free throw percentage (73.6) and 14th in defensive 3-point field goal percentage (31.2). To see how the Evangels stack up against the NAIA in other categories, click here
• The Evangels were picked to finish third in the SAC preseason coaches poll

MEET THE COACHES  
Vinay Patel (52-27, 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
Josh Gamblin (57-33, third season with MACU)
• In his first season with Mid-America Christian, Gamblin took the Evangels to their first ever NAIA National Championship, defeating No. 1-ranked Georgetown (Ky.) 100-99 in overtime. He became the youngest coach (27 years old) in college basketball history to win a national championship at a four-year institution
• Gamblin was named 2015-16 Rawlings-NAIA Division I coach of the year and also has received the Dr. James Naismith-Emil S. Liston Sports Award
• He joined MACU after a tenure at the University of Oklahoma, where Gamblin was a graduate assistant under head coach Lon Kruger

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 adds the commentary. 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

Terence Bonhomme

#5 Terence Bonhomme

G
6' 0"
Senior
Ivan Saicic

#24 Ivan Saicic

F
6' 7"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Terence Bonhomme

#5 Terence Bonhomme

6' 0"
Senior
G
Ivan Saicic

#24 Ivan Saicic

6' 7"
Senior
F