OCU at Mid-America Christian men's basketball preview

Stars strive for No. 2 seed in upcoming conference tournament

Joe Clarke rejected Cameron Hines' layup attempt late in Thursday's game.

Men's Basketball | 2/22/2019 5:19:00 PM

4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23
Gaulke Activity Center | Oklahoma City

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University looks to secure its best possible seed for the postseason conference tournament against Mid-America Christian
• The Stars would get the second seed for the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament with a win and a John Brown (Ark.) loss, the third seed with a win and John Brown win and fourth seed with a loss and wins by John Brown and USAO
• The SAC stages its postseason tournament starting Tuesday with quarterfinals on campus sites throughout the conference and continuing with semifinals and championship at Abe Lemons Arena on March 1-2

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City edged USAO 74-71 on Thursday night at Abe Lemons Arena. Chris Williams boosted the Stars (18-9, 13-8 SAC) with a reverse lay-in with 20 seconds to go to give OCU the lead
• Williams, a 6-foot-2 senior from Denver, posted 26 points, four rebounds and five 3-pointers. Williams reached 25 points for the sixth time this season and second consecutive outing. He records 19.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.52 steals a game with an 86.5 percent free-throw percentage, which ranks fourth in the NAIA
• Elijah Christman, a 6-5 senior from Justin, Texas, produced 15 points, shooting 6-for-6 on 2-point attempts. Christman delivers 11.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He ranks 12th in the country with a 47.7 percent 3-point shooting clip
• The Stars rates fourth in the NAIA with a 77.8 percent free-throw percentage. Compare OCU with the rest of the NAIA statistically this season here
• OCU returned to the NAIA Top 25 at No. 18. 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 sank Mid-America Christian 97-81 on Jan. 29 at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars set a single-game program mark with 19 treys in 30 tries. Williams spearheaded OCU with 23 points, five rebounds and eight assists, while Anthony Davis nailed 5-for-6 from 3-point range. Oklahoma City improved to 20-10 against Mid-America

ABOUT THE EVANGELS
• Mid-America Christian rallied past Southwestern Christian 76-66 on Thursday night in Bethany, Okla. The Evangels (18-11, 11-10 SAC) overcame a nine-point deficit
• Charles Beauregard Jr., a 6-3 senior, came off the bench to tally 19 points and five rebounds. Beauregard averages 12.8 points and 3.4 rebounds a game
• Javon Perry, a 6-foot senior, had 19 points and two steals. Perry chips in 6.3 points and 2.0 rebounds a contest
• Mid-America Christian hits 75.7 percent from the foul line to rank sixth nationally
• The Evangels could land anywhere between the fifth seed and the eighth seed – fifth or sixth seed with a win or seventh or eighth seed with a loss
• Mid-America has been slated to finish in seventh place in the Sooner Athletic Conference according to the preseason coaches poll

ABOUT THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (78-40, 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. His overall coaching mark stands at 84-54 in five years

Josh Gamblin (83-51, fourth 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) 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
• Watch the game live or follow the game via live stats here
• Oklahoma City University athletics provides live and on-demand audio of its contests on OCU's Stretch portal. Listen to the game live and follow on live stats here
• Andrew Himes calls the action. Himes enters his eighth season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 11 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

#10 Elijah Christman: F; 6' 5"; Senior

#23 Anthony Davis: F; 6' 7"; Junior

#2 Chris Williams: G; 6' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#10 Elijah Christman
: 6' 5"; Senior
: F

#23 Anthony Davis
: 6' 7"; Junior
: F

#2 Chris Williams
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

Players Mentioned

#10 Elijah Christman

#23 Anthony Davis

#2 Chris Williams

Players Mentioned

#10 Elijah Christman

#23 Anthony Davis

#2 Chris Williams