7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP

• Oklahoma City University opens a three-game stretch of men's basketball games at Abe Lemons Arena with a Sooner Athletic Conference contest against Texas Wesleyan
• The Stars had a set of eight out of nine games scheduled for home during this stretch
• Tickets cost $7 for adults and $5 for students. All tickets must be purchased via OCU's HomeTown Ticketing portal. No tickets are to be purchased via cash on site. OCU students, faculty and staff gain admission to all OCU regular-season home athletics events free of charge with their ID 
• Fans will be required to wear masks in place over their faces while observing social distancing. No concessions will be offered
• Texas Wesleyan toppled OCU 67-65 for the national championship March 21, 2006 in Kansas City, Mo. Ben Hunt rebounded a missed free throw, zoomed to the other end of the court and drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing with two tenths of a second left to make the difference

ABOUT THE STARS

• Oklahoma City held off Southwestern Christian 80-79 on Saturday in Bethany, Okla. Ryan Birt's free throws at the 27-second mark provided the Stars (7-9, 6-3 SAC) with an 80-75 lead
• Birt, a 6-foot-2 senior from Plano, Texas, totaled a team-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and three steals for the Stars. He topped 20 points for the second time this season after posting a season-high 22 at Central Christian (Kan.) on Nov. 18, 2021. Birt has delivered 11.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists a game in 2021-22
• Rashaun Coleman, a 6-foot senior from Houston, supplied OCU with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals at Pickens-Springer Gymnasium. Coleman sank all four of his foul shots. Coleman has collected 15.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.21 steals a contest this season
• OCU's opponents this season have hit 24.5 percent shoot of their 3-pointers for the lowest opponents' 3-point shooting clip of 2021-22
• 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
• Texas Wesleyan assumed a 16-15 edge in the all-time series with a 68-67 win Jan. 28, 2021 at Abe Lemons Arena. Sebastian Karwoski hit a jumper in the paint with 16 seconds remaining to make the difference. Eric Amandio sank a jump shot in the lane for a 67-65 OCU lead with 2:16 to go
 
ABOUT THE RAMS

• Texas Wesleyan stomped Wayland Baptist (Texas) 80-51 on Saturday in Plainview, Texas. The Rams (14-3, 7-2 SAC) have a five-game winning streak
• Kristan Lafayette, a 6-10 junior, had 22 points, 15 rebounds, five blocked shots and four steals while hitting all eight of his field-goal attempts, each of his four 3-point shots and both free throws. He averages 11.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.71 rejections per game this season
• The Rams have held foes to 38.2 percent from long distance to rank seventh nationally in 2021-22
• Texas Wesleyan received votes in the latest national poll
• Conference coaches projected Texas Wesleyan to place fourth in the SAC in the preseason
 
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
 
Brennen Shingleton (184-103, 10th season with Texas Wesleyan)
• Texas Wesleyan has made the NAIA Championship Tournament five of the past six years under Shingleton, who served as an assistant coach and later as an associate head coach for 10 years prior to becoming head coach of the Rams
• He reached 100 wins during the team's national championship run in 2017, making him the fastest coach to reach the milestone in the history of the program
• Shingleton is a two-time SAC coach of the year and was named NAIA national coach of the year in 2017
 
ON THE AIR

• Oklahoma City University athletics provides live and on-demand audio and video of its contests on OCU's BlueFrame platform as well as live statistics. Cost to watch OCU athletics live is $4.99 per game, while there is a men's basketball season pass available for $52
• Andrew Himes provides the play-by-play. Himes enters his 11th season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 14 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