OCU vs. Southwestern Assemblies of God Men's Basketball Preview

Stars Look to Pick Up Key Home Win over No. 15 SAGU

Men's Basketball | 2/5/2020 3:05:00 PM

7:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University will host Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Thursday night in the second of back-to-back games at home for the Stars
• 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
• OCU held off a late charge from Langston (Okla.) on Saturday to take a critical win over the Lions, 67-62. The win squared the season series with Langston and helped OCU keep pace with USAO and Southwestern Christian in the SAC postseason race.
• Darrion Willies, a senior from Fontana, Calif., propelled OCU with 16 points and eight rebounds. Willies hit all seven of his shots from the field, including a dunk early in the second half to help rally OCU from a five-point deficit
• Trae Bryant ignited the Stars with 12 second-half points. Bryant, a senior from Wilmington, N.C., shot 4-for-5 from 3-point range
• Kealon Clayborne, a junior from Cedar Hill, Texas, supplied OCU with 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists
• Anthony Davis, a senior from Lewisville, Texas, produced nine points and nine rebounds, while Eddie Smith, a freshman from Birmingham, Ala., pitched in nine points and three assists for the Stars
• Oklahoma City ranks 7th in NAIA Division I while allowing foes to shoot 30.4 percent from 3-point range. 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 all-time series between the two schools is tied at 7-7, though SAGU took the win earlier this season in Waxahachie, 83-73

ABOUT THE LIONS
• SAGU has won four straight games since falling to NAIA No. 2 Mid-America Christian, and the Lions have risen to 15th in the NAIA coaches' poll as a result. The Lions handed Wayland Baptist a 96-83 los in Plainview, Texas on Saturday
• Joshua Kashila had 23 points in the win at Wayland, and he was named the SAC Player of the Week on Monday. The junior from Euless, Texas averages 17.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game
• The Lions rank third in NAIA Division I in steals per game (11.05) and total steals (221)
• SAGU took the fourth spot in the preseason SAC coaches poll

MEET 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

Delton Deal (60-25 SAGU - third season; 197-113, 10th season overall)
• Deal led SAGU to the NAIA Division I men's basketball championship in his first season with the program in 2017-18
• Prior to SAGU, Deal took York (Neb.) to three NAIA Division II men's basketball championshp tournaments in seven years. Before his arrival, the Panthers had only one one winning season in program history, and under his watch, the Panthers did not suffer a losing record in a single season in any of his seasons
• Before his time at York, Deal coached in Fort Worth at Bethesda Christian High School where he was 97-28, and where he won the 2007 TAPPS 3A State Championship, That season, he also won State Coach of the Year honors

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, $29.95 for a men's basketball season pass and $74.95 for an all-season pass for 2019-20
• Andrew Himes will provide the play-by-play. Himes enters his ninth season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 12 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

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

#1 Kealon Clayborne: G; 6' 3"; Junior

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

#21 Darrion Willies: F; 6' 6"; Senior

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

Players Mentioned

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

#1 Kealon Clayborne
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

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

#21 Darrion Willies
: 6' 6"; Senior
: F

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