3:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4
Sheaffer Center | Waxahachie, Texas

THE MATCHUP

• Oklahoma City University collides with top 10-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) in a contest featuring men's basketball teams undefeated in Sooner Athletic Conference play so far in 2021-22
• OCU squares off with a team ranked among the NAIA's top 10 for the third time this season. The Stars have fallen to eighth-ranked Bethel (Kan.) on Oct. 29 and 10th-rated Carroll (Mont.) on Nov. 12
• The Stars will play the second of three games in the state of Texas on their schedule before returning home for a Wednesday contest. Oklahoma City will continue on to Lubbock, Texas, to meet Lubbock Christian (Texas), ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II, in an exhibition Monday

ABOUT THE STARS

• Oklahoma City escaped from North Texas Dallas with a 71-70 overtime win Thursday in Dallas. Romario Spence provided the Stars (4-5, 3-0 SAC) with free throws with 23 seconds remaining in overtime to make the difference
• Rashaun Coleman, a 6-foot senior from Houston, delivered a career-high 27 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and two steals at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. Coleman came up with his fourth 20-point output of the season while surpassing his previous career best of 25 points achieved Feb. 13 at Southwestern Christian in Bethany, Okla. Coleman has compiled 15.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.33 steals per game this season
• Spence, a 6-7 senior from Luton, England, collected 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots Thursday. Spence reached double figures in scoring for the sixth time this season. Spence turns in 11.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.11 blocks a contest with 57.4 percent shooting from the field in 2021-22
• OCU has held opponents to 24.6 percent shooting from 3-point range to rank fourth in the NAIA this season
• The Stars took the eighth spot in the preseason SAC coaches poll. OCU owns 13 SAC regular-season championships and 10 SAC Tournament titles. Oklahoma City has advanced to the NAIA Division I Championship Tournament 25 times all-time and has won six national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008
• Southwestern Assemblies of God leads the overall series 10-6. Southwestern Assemblies of God edged OCU 81-80 on Feb. 2 in Waxahachie, Texas thanks to Joshua Kashila's free throw with 4.8 seconds left. Ten of the matchups in the all-time series were decided by single digits
 
ABOUT THE LIONS

• Southwestern Assemblies of God rallied past John Brown (Ark.) 79-74 on Thursday in Waxahachie, Texas. The Lions (7-1, 4-0 SAC) made up a 12-point first-half deficit with 65.4 percent shooting from the floor in the second period
• Nykolas Mason, a 6-6 senior, had 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. He is averaging 23.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists a contest this season
• SAGU ranks 15th in the NAIA with 23.0 free-throw tries a game this season
• SAC coaches installed Southwestern Assemblies of God as the preseason favorite to win the conference
 
ABOUT THE COACHES

Mark Berokoff (first season with OCU)
• Mark Berokoff guided Randall to three national championships and a national runner-up finish in nine years as head coach of the Saints. Berokoff's record with Randall was 147-122. Randall regularly challenged SAC squads and defeated OCU twice during that time
• Berokoff coached five national player of the year honorees, 16 all-Americans, three national tournament outstanding player award winners and one scholar all-American with Randall. Berkoff was two-time national coach of the year
• Berokoff's coaching career includes experience on the high school, college and professional levels. His combined head-coaching record over 19 years in the college and prep ranks is 372-199
 
Delton Deal (88-33, fourth season with Southwestern Assemblies of God, 225-121, 11th season overall)
• Deal directed Southwestern Assemblies of God to its first NAIA Fab Four appearance since 2013 in 2020-21. Deal has led the Lions to the SAC Tournament championship twice and NAIA Championship Tournament three times
• 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, Texas 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

• Southwestern Assemblies of God will offer a live video broadcast of the game