SAN ANTONIO (December 19, 2015) – Lubbock Christian University overcame a sluggish start to the second half to hang on for their first Heartland win of the season in a 70-62 defeat of St. Mary's Saturday afternoon inside Bill Greehey Arena, as Tyler Rogers produced a game and season-high 19 points and Marcos Schuster set his season-best with 17 to send the Chaps into Christmas break with a mark in the win column.
 
Both teams provided a strong showing from the free throw line despite St. Mary's entering the contest with the lowest average in the conference at 55-percent, and the Chaps missing seven freebies in Thursday's loss at Texas A&M International. The Rattlers connected on 21-of-25 while LCU missed just one of their 19 attempts, which included a perfect 11-of-11 by Rogers.
 
LCU (7-3, 1-1 Heartland) entered halftime with a 35-24 advantage and kept a nine-point lead on a jumper by Rogers at the 13:28 mark but squandered it away during the next five minutes as the Rattlers (5-5, 1-1 Heartland) knotted the score at 46-all. Four free throws by Rogers and scores in the paint by Marcus Arrington and Schuster put the Chaps in front at 54-48, but St. Mary's Bryce Smith hit a three-pointer to cut the lead in half with under five minutes to play.
 
Another three by the Rattlers cut the deficit to within two before a field goal by Ridrell Holman and two more free throws by Rogers put the Chaps up 60-54 with 2:43 remaining. A shot by St. Mary's Isaiah Parros was equalized seconds later by Rogers, and four straight Chap free throws opened the game up at 66-56 in favor of LCU.
 
St. Mary's struggled offensively early on, going scoreless from the 18:29 mark until Kriston Minor hit a free throw at 11:44 with the Chaps leading 10-3. The Rattlers went another minute before hitting their second field goal and waited nearly eight minutes to score one again. During St. Mary's drought, LCU led by as many as 15 before closing to within 29-22 with under two minutes until the half.
 
A.J. Luckey scored 14 for the Chaps and Matt Alford grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in just 14 minutes of play.
 
LCU limited Minor, St. Mary's leading scorer, to 10 points below his average of 16. Parros had 15 for the Rattlers, Yanni Wetzell added 14 and Smith tallied 12.
 
The Chaps wrap up 2015 with a New Year's Eve match with Oklahoma Panhandle at 5:30 at The Rip.