7:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center 

THE MATCHUP

• It will be a matchup of top-3 Sooner Athletic Conference teams when Oklahoma City University faces Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Thursday evening at Abe Lemons Arena. SAGU sets atop the conference standings with a 13-1 league mark while OCU is in third place with a 10-4 record
• Southwestern Assemblies of God enters Thursday's game with a No. 9 ranking in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top-25 poll and a seven-game winning streak
• 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

ABOUT THE STARS

• Oklahoma City (11-10,10-4 SAC) stretched its winning streak to three games with a 73-62 come-from-behind road win over John Brown (Ark.) on Tuesday evening in Siloam Springs, Ark. JBU started the game with a 17-4 run before OCU mounted a furious comeback to post a 34-29 halftime lead. The Stars lead stood at 53-50 at the 8:53 mark of the second half, at which point 16-2 run built an insurmountable 69-52 lead at the 5:08 mark.
• With the win, OCU has won five of its last six games. The win over JBU was the second time in the last five games that OCU has overcome a huge early deficit to post a win. Texas Wesleyan started the game with an 18-4 run at Abe Lemons Arena on Jan. 13 before the Stars clawed back to earn an 80-72 overtime win. All five starters scored in double-figures in the win over JBU and all five played 32 minutes or more in the contest
• Junior forward Kori Guest led the charge with a team-high 18 points in the win. He has now scored in double-figures in 14 of 19 games played this season, reaching 20 points plus three times. Guest ranks second on the squad with a 12.9 points per game scoring average
• Senior guard Ryan Birt finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds in the win
• OCU recorded its third best shooting performance of the season in the win, making 28 of 54 field goal attempts (51.9%). Earlier this season the Stars achieved a 56.5% shooting performance in a win over Champion Christian (Ark.) and a 60.6% performance in a win over Langston.
• JBU made 27.3% (9 of 33) of its 3-pointers in the loss to OCU, their fourth poorest performance of the season in that category.
• OCU remains the No.1 team in the NAIA in 3-point field-goal defense, with opponents making only 25.0% (113 of 452) of their attempts from beyond the arc.
• OCU ranks ninth in the SAC in team offense (72.8 ppg) and seventh in team defense (72.7 ppg).
• The Stars took the eighth spot in the preseason SAC Preseason 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
• SAGU defeated OCU 65-62 on Dec. 4 in Waxahachie. Senior guard Rashaun Coleman led the Stars with 13 points in that contest with senior forward Romario Spence contributing 10 points and 10 rebounds. SAGU secured the tightly contested win with a couple of free throws with seconds remaining
• With that earlier win, SAGU now holds a 11-6 in the all-time series against OCU. The Lions have won four straight in the series with OCU's last win being a 78-65 decision in Waxahachie on Feb. 7, 2019
 
ABOUT THE LIONS

• SAGU (16-3, 13-1 SAC) routed 15th-ranked Science & Arts 105-79 last Saturday in Waxahachie, Texas
• A total of 10 players scored in the win with four scoring in double-figures. Senior guard Nykolas Mason and junior forward Tyler Kinghorn led the way with 25 points apiece
• Mason leads the Sooner Athletic Conference in scoring (20.6 ppg) and field goal percentage (58.1%, 140 of 241)
• SAGU ranks first in the SAC in team offense (82.4 ppg) and fourth in team defense (70.4 ppg)

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
• 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 (97-36, 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

• 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 calls the action. 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