OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City Stars men's basketball team will be back in action on Thursday as the Stars take on the number ten team in the country Wayland Baptist at 8 PM inside Abe Lemons Arena. 

Game Information 

• Oklahoma City Stars (2-6, 0-3 SAC)
  • Previous Game: Central Christian (L, 61-68)
• #10 Wayland Baptist (5-2, 1-1 SAC)
  • Previous Game: Southwestern Christian (W, 96-55)
• Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 7, 7:45 PM
• Location: Abe Lemons Arena
• Live Coverage: Radio | Live Stats | TV

Key Players

• Oklahoma City 
  • So - Avery Jackson - 17.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 86.3 FT%
  • Sr - Brandon Jackson - 16.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 43.5 FG%, 86.8 FT%
  • Fr - Yorgio Golesis - 8.3 PPG, 1.75 APG, 41.7 FG%, 1.62 SPG
• Wayland Baptist
  • Sr - Linton Brown - 20.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 46.7 FG%, 41.8 3PT%
  • Jr - Tahjae Hill - 12.9 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.2 APG, 52.0 3PT%
  • Jr - Meikkel Murray - 12.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 48.1 FG%

About the Stars

• Oklahoma City enters Thursday's game on a three-game losing streak after dropping its first three conference games to John Brown (73-91), Langston (51-85), and Central Christian (61-68).
• The Stars biggest win so far comes by way of defeating number 15 The Master's University in the Abe Lemons Classic back in early November. 
• OCU is led in scoring by sophomore guard Avery Jackson who is scoring 17.8 PPG and reached a season-high mark 25 points in the tight loss to Ottawa (Ariz.) back Nov. 9. 
• The only senior on this Stars squad Brandon Jackson follows in next with 16.5 PPG and comes in as the teams top free throw shooter at 86.8%.
• Oklahoma City is seeing a youthful movement amongst its team with four freshmen getting 12 minutes or more Yorgio Golesis, Clayton Jewell, James Cloud, and Beau Tranter. 
• Freshman from Salt Lake City, UT., Golesis, has cracked into the starting lineup in the past couple of games giving OCU 8.3 PPG. 

About the Pioneers

• Wayland Baptist enters as the number ten team in the country with a 5-2 overall record and 1-1 in conference play. 
• The Pioneers opened up conference play on Nov. 30 and suffered a one-point loss on a buzzer-beater three to Mid-America Christian. Wayland Baptist bounced back strongly in its next game against Southwestern Christian blowing out the Eagles 96-55 behind 32 points from Linton Brown.  
• Wayland holds four players in double-figure scoring as Linton Brown leads the way with 19.3 a game. 
• Tahjae Hill plays a big role for the Pioneers as the junior guard scores at an 11.3 clip seeing his top game come against Florida College in the Abe Lemons Classic hosted by Oklahoma City. 
• Sophomore guard Brett Leach gives the Pioneers 12.3 PPG shooting 50% from beyond the arc while having made at least one three-pointer in the five games. 

Meet the Coaches

• Mark Berokoff (3rd Season) 
  • Mark Berokoff is in his third season at the helm for the Stars coming off a 17-13 in the 2022-23 season while finishing third overall in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Berokoff, previously a three-time national champion at Randall University holds a 36-31 overall record at Oklahoma City
  • Before Randall, Berokoff served as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech, Texas State, and Hill College. Berokoff contributed to one of Louisiana Tech's finest seasons with a 24-11 record and a berth in the College Insider Tournament quarterfinals.
  • At the high school level, Berokoff had a career record of 225-77 in 10 years of coaching, including winning the California Interscholastic Federation Championship. He also was involved with the Los Angeles Rockfish AAU team where he coached more than 50 future Division I players.
  • In 2005, he became the vice president of operations and head coach of the Lincoln Generals in the All-American Professional Basketball League (AAPBL). Other highlights include coaching at the prestigious ABCD Camp led by legendary Sonny Vaccaro and helping establish the 1Dream Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides educational opportunities for foreign athletes.

•  Clint Galyean (3rd Season)
  • A native West Texan, Galyean grew up in Eastland, Texas, and went on to attend Angelo State University. He was recruited to play basketball at ASU under current University of Texas coach Chris Beard, but a couple of knee surgeries cut short his playing career. Galyean switched gears and became a student assistant coach and later a graduate assistant coach at Angelo State.
  • Galyean became assistant men's basketball coach at Central Baptist College in Conway, Ark., in 2017, helping the program to a 21-9 record, its first-ever top 25 ranking, and its first appearance in the NAIA National Championships. The very next season Galyean was elevated to head coach, and for the next three years guided the Mustangs to the American Midwest Conference regular-season or tournament championship and three more national tournament appearances.
  • His CBC teams were ranked as high as No. 18 in the country and compiled an overall win-loss record of 63-27, a winning percentage of .700. He recruited and developed six NAIA All-Americans in four years, as well as 15 all-conference players and eight academic all-conference players.
  • In his first season at Wayland, Galyean guided the Pioneers to the championship game of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, beating No. 10 USAO in the semifinals before falling by two points in the finals to No. 24 SAGU. Wayland finished with a 19-13 record, including 13-9 in the SAC.

Series History 

• Wayland Baptist holds a 20-15 record in the all-time series dating back to Jan. 19, 2008. 
• Oklahoma City has dropped the last two meetings however they split the regular season series last year with the final meeting coming in a four-point loss in the Sooner Athletic Conference semifinal. 

What's Next

• Oklahoma City will compete in its final game before Christmas break on Saturday against Oklahoma Panhandle State at 3:45 PM inside Abe Lemons Arena.