STEPHENVILLE, Texas (November 14, 2014) – Aided by 17-second half points from A.J. Luckey, Lubbock Christian outscored Texas A&M-Commerce after halftime by six but could not quite make up for a 13-point first half deficit in an 83-76 season opening loss to the Lions in the Texan Tip-Off Classic at Wisdom Gym on Friday afternoon.
 
Luckey came alive after being held without a field goal for the first 30 minutes of the contest, scoring all seven of his buckets following intermission and connected of eight of his 10 free throws to score a game-high 24 points. Beau Durham drained three of his six three-point attempts on his way to 13 points, while Matthew Alford, Ridrell Holman and Isaac Cardona each contributed 10 in the 2014-15 debut for the Chaps.
 
LCU (0-1, 0-0 Heartland) more than doubled their first half output, scoring 51 points in the second stanza compared to just 25 throughout the first 20 minutes. The Chaps mustered just six field goals before halftime but returned after the break to hit 21 of their 36 attempts at a 58-percent clip
 
TAMUC (1-0, 0-0 Lone Star), who defeated Texas A&M in an exhibition contest on November 5 and narrowly lost to Texas Tech three days later, received three first-place votes in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. Although the Lions never trailed in this contest and led by as many as 18 in each half, the Chaps kept finding a way to sneak back into the game. To open the second half, the Chaps put together a 10-3 run to pull within six on back-to-back baskets by Durham and Holman. TAMUC's Darrell Williams, a huge presence underneath, then scored two buckets and teammate Anthony Adams hit a jumper while being fouled by Luckey to push Commerce's lead back to a dozen at 47-35.
 
A layup by Scout Teal, his first bucket in a Chap uniform, closed the gap to 49-41 with under 14 minutes to play, but a three-pointer by De'Andre Carson pushed the Lion lead back to 52-41. A three-pointer and a pair of free throws by Christian Macauley extended Commerce's lead to 17 with 7:17 remaining.
 
Down 77-60 with 2:51 on the clock, Luckey scored a jumper and a layup before Marcos Schuster put his name in the scoring column with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 79-67. Luckey then took a pass from Schuster and drained a trey from the baseline while being fouled. The ensuing free throw was no good, but Alford scored in the paint on the next trip down to pull the Chaps to within 80-72 with 33 seconds to play. Cardona drove left moments later for a bucket and Luckey hit another layup with time expiring for the final points of the afternoon.
 
For LCU, Alford's 10 points were a career-high as were Durham's trio of three-pointers.
 
For the Lions, Williams collected the game's only double-double with 21 points and 10 boards.
 
The Chaps continue play in Wisdom Gym tomorrow, taking on host No. 12 Tarleton State.