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

Stars square off with preseason conference favorite

Hugh Scott

Kori Guest paces OCU in scoring (12.6 points average), steals (1.60 per game) and free-throw shooting (90.9 percent).

Men's Basketball | 2/5/2021 10:22:00 AM

2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University kicks off a set of four home games in a row against Mid-America Christian
• The Stars finish up a stretch of four games in a week
• OCU has prohibited spectator attendance from its home contests
• Fans can watch Stars home games on the OCU Sports Network

ABOUT THE STARS
• USAO stunned Oklahoma City 71-69 on Thursday in Chickasha, Okla. Rashaun Coleman downed a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds to go, but Stephon Hall responded by canning a 3 as time ran out to sink the Stars (1-4, 1-4 Sooner Athletic Conference)
• Coleman, a 6-foot senior from Houston, totaled 19 points and five assists. He recorded season bests in scoring, field goals (six) and 3-pointers (four). Coleman provides OCU with 8.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists a game
• Kealon Clayborne, a 6-3 senior from Cedar Hill, Texas, notched 18 points, four assists and two steals. Clayborne contributes 8.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest
• OCU hauls in 30.5 defensive rebounds a contest as a team to rank 21st in the NAIA. Kori Guest's free-throw percentage (90.9 percent) ranks 13th in the NAIA. See how the Stars stack up with the other teams in the NAIA statistically here
• 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
• OCU holds a 20-13 advantage in the all-time series against Mid-America Christian. Mid-America held off the Stars 99-92 on Feb. 20, 2020 at Abe Lemons Arena. Coleman had 19 points, six assists and two steals

ABOUT THE EVANGELS
• Mid-America Christian slipped past Southwestern Christian 75-73 on Thursday in Bethany, Okla. The Evangels (6-2, 2-1 SAC) overcame a 17-point deficit
• Tony Dorsey and Terrance Jones led Mid-America with 21 points each. Jones added 10 rebounds and two steals for his third double-double of the season. Jones, a 6-5 senior from Dallas, averages 16.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.17 steals per contest
• Conference coaches expected Mid-America to win the SAC in the preseason

MEET THE COACHES
Tim Kisner (first season with OCU)
• Kisner served as an assistant coach at John Brown (Ark.) the previous two seasons. John Brown went 51-16 (.762 winning percentage) with a program record-tying 28 victories last season, two national-tournament berths, two second-place finishes in the SAC and two appearances in the SAC Tournament title game the past two years. The Golden Eagles were 44-48 (.478) the two years prior to Kisner's arrival
• Guided Fresno Pacific to 14 victories as head coach in 2015-16, which was a five-game improvement over the previous season
• Started four years at point guard for Central Michigan from 1997-2001, earning spots on the program's all-time list for points, assists, 3-pointers and steals

Josh Gamblin (123-55, sixth season with Mid-America Christian)
• Gamblin grabbed the SAC coach of the year while leading Mid-America Christian to a 30-win season and the conference regular-season championship last season. Gamblin notched his 100th career victory Jan. 4, 2020 against John Brown (Ark.)
• 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 collected the 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 Mid-America 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 BlueFrame platform. Cost to watch OCU athletics is $4.99 per game
• Andrew Himes will provide the play-by-play. Himes enters his 10th season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 13 years starting on color commentary as an OCU student
• OCU has partnered with BlueFrame Technology to create the OCU Sports Network. To watch live video, fans can find the Stars' BlueFrame platform over the web on the SAC Network along with streaming apps for mobile devices (iOS and Android) and televisions including Amazon Fire Tablet, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. The app can be found and installed by searching for the SAC Network

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#22 Kori Guest: F; 6' 6"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

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

#22 Kori Guest
: 6' 6"; Junior
: F

Players Mentioned

#1 Kealon Clayborne

#2 Rashaun Coleman

#22 Kori Guest

Players Mentioned

#1 Kealon Clayborne

#2 Rashaun Coleman

#22 Kori Guest