Men's Basketball 2/28/2020 6:34:00 PM

OCU at Panhandle State Men's Basketball Preview

Stars Look to Earn Berth in SAC Tournament

Men's Basketball 2/28/2020 6:34:00 PM

OCU at Panhandle State Men's Basketball Preview

Stars Look to Earn Berth in SAC Tournament

3:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29
Anchor D Arena in Goodwell, Okla.

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University wraps up the 2019-20 regular season on Saturday with a must-win game at Panhandle State
• The Stars are currently on the outside looking in on the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, but they are in a good enough position in most tiebreakers that a win will give the Stars a good chance to be playing in the postseason
• OCU wins a multi-team tiebreaker with Southwestern Christian and Langston, and they also win a single team tiebreaker with SCU. The only tiebreaker the Stars could find themselves in and be on the short end is a single team tiebreaker with Langston

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City allowed a pair of lengthy runs as they fell to Wayland Baptist 88-71 on Thursday night in Plainview, Texas
• Rashaun Coleman, a 6-foot junior from Houston, led the Stars with a double-double. He tallied 16 points and reeled in 10 rebounds, and he was 10-for-12 at the free throw line. Coleman averages 13.4 points per game for OCU this season
• Eddie Smith, a 6-foot-2 freshman from Birmingham, Ala., added 15 points in the loss, making three of the six 3-point field goals the Stars recorded in the game
• Seniors Anthony Davis (12) and Trae Bryant (11) also scored in double-figures in the game, while Elie Ghomsi grabbed 10 rebounds to tie for the team lead in that category
• Oklahoma City has hit 48.0 percent from the field as a team to rank 16th in NAIA Division I. Eddie Smith sinks 43.5 percent from beyond the 3-point line to rank second in the conference and 23rd in the NAIA. Compare OCU with the rest of the NAIA statistically this season here
• The Stars have been slotted to take fifth place in the SAC according to the preseason coaches poll. OCU owns 13 SAC regular-season championships and 10 SAC Tournament titles. Oklahoma City reached the NAIA Division I Championship Tournament for the 25th time last season and has won six national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008
• The Stars routed Panhandle State 73-41 on Nov. 21, 2019 at Abe Lemons Arena, in their 2019-20 Sooner Athletic Conference opener. Oklahoma City improved its all-time record against Panhandle State to 20-4. Anthony Davis finished with 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting to pace the Stars in that win

ABOUT THE AGGIES
• Panhandle State dropped a heartbreaker on Thursday night at Anchor D Arena, falling 92-90 to Southwestern Christian
• TC Ellis, a 5-foot-11 juniot from Stanford, Calif., led the Aggies with 26 points in the game, as he shot 11-for-16 from the field, and he was a perfect 2-for-2 from both behind the 3-point arc and from the foul line.
• OPSU's DK Sumo ranks 11th in NAIA Division I with 2.4 steals per game, and he is 22nd in total steals with 50
• Panhandle State stood 11th in the preseason SAC coaches poll

ABOUT THE COACHES
Hank Aldous (first season with OCU)
• Served as graduate assistant at the University of Denver prior to coming to OCU
• Became Southern Athletic Association player of the year as a senior at Hendrix (Ark.) during his playing career
• Aldous led Hendrix to two conference titles and its first conference tournament crown ever, becoming the SAA Tournament most valuable player. Hendrix made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament

Mark Laird (5-23, first season with Panhandle State)
• Laird brought a total of 14 years of coaching expertise to the Aggies, most recently two seasons at SAC-member Southwestern Christian. During that two-season span, the Eagles formed a 34-32 record and four team members earned all-SAC honors.
• Prior to his time at SCU, Laird was the Associate Head Coach at his alma mater, University of Valley Forge (2015-17) and an assistant coach at Texas A&M International University (2011-15
• Laird was the head coach at Bethany University (Calif.) in 2010-11. He also made stops at Sacramento State, Hawai'i Pacific and Shepherd University in the 2000s

ON THE AIR
• Panhandle State offers live video and stats of the game

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Players Mentioned

#3 Trae Bryant: G; 6' 1"; Senior

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

#2 Rashaun Coleman: G; 6' 0"; Junior

#13 Eddie Smith: G; 6' 2"; Freshman

#15 Elie Ghomsi: F; 6' 7"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#3 Trae Bryant
: 6' 1"; Senior
: G

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

#2 Rashaun Coleman
: 6' 0"; Junior
: G

#13 Eddie Smith
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: G

#15 Elie Ghomsi
: 6' 7"; Sophomore
: F