Lubbock Christian (15-10, 12-6 Heartland) at St. Mary's (16-9, 13-5 Heartland)
Thursday, February 26 at 7:30 p.m.
San Antonio, Texas (Bill Greehey Arena)
 
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (February 26, 2015) – Lubbock Christian men's basketball has an opportunity to clinch at least a share of the Heartland Conference title during the final week of league play, as the Chaps travel to St. Mary's tonight and Texas A&M International Saturday afternoon. The Chaps and Rogers State each have accumulated a 12-6 record while St. Mary's sits a game ahead at 13-5. Two Chap wins (which includes a St. Mary's defeat) will give LCU a final conference record of 14-6, guaranteeing at least a part of the title. If that scenario plays out, and Rogers State defeats both Arkansas-Fort Smith and Dallas Baptist, all three teams will share the top spot
 
About St. Mary's
The Rattlers are currently in sole possession of first place within the Heartland at 13-5, leading LCU and Rogers State by one game.
 
History between Chaps and Rattlers
St. Mary's leads the all-time series, 3-2, but LCU has taken the last two victories.
 
Last meeting between LCU and StMU
LUBBOCK, Texas (December 20, 2014) – Two free throws by A.J. Luckey with 14 seconds remaining doubled Lubbock Christian's lead to four versus St. Mary's and allowed the Chaps to escape with a 64-62 victory Saturday afternoon at the Rip Griffin Center after a long distance attempt by the Rattlers fell short at the buzzer, leaving LCU and No. 25 St. Edward's as the only unbeaten teams in Heartland Conference play.

Luckey scored a game-high 21 points that included a 9-for-12 performance at the line while Matthew Alford recorded a dozen. In the narrow victory, the Chaps (5-3, 2-0 Heartland) committed a season-high 18 turnovers and gave up 11 offensive boards to the Rattlers (4-5, 1-1 Heartland) but hit 18-of-23 free throws in the second half.

Alford hit one of two free throws to give the Chaps a 61-55 lead with 1:12 left on the clock before St. Mary's Marvin Whitt drove through the lane to hit a bucket and draw a foul, but missed the free throw, whittling the advantage to four with 1:01 remaining in the game. LCU then struggled in the backcourt, being called for three consecutive turnovers, with one miscue resulting in a Rattler field goal to trim the lead to a pair. On the ensuing inbounds, Alford struggled containing the ball, throwing a heave down court to Ridrell Holman as the Chaps called a timeout. St. Mary's pushed the officials to review the clock for a 10-second backcourt violation, but after several minutes it was determined that LCU still retained possession.

Luckey then connected on his two free throws, but St. Mary's Isaiah Matthews grabbed an offensive board and scored on the putback while drawing a foul. His successful charity shot pulled the Rattlers to within a point and five ticks on the clock. On the inbounds, Durham was fouled while in the double bonus and hit the front end, giving the Rattlers a final attempt that ended up falling short.

After leading 29-22 at the half, LCU held St. Mary's without a field goal for nearly five minutes after the break and seemed to be in decent shape following a trio of free throws by Luckey to put the Chaps up 39-25 with just over 15 minutes left to play, but the Rattlers went on a 10-2 run within the next three minutes to slice to lead to six at the 12:19 mark. Marcos Schuster gave the Chaps a nine-point lead on a baseline drive with 3:42 to go before the Rattlers responded with six straight points to cut the lead to 58-55 leading into the frantic finish.

For St. Mary's, Marvin Binney totaled 13 points, and Kriston Minor and Whitt each had 10.
 
Record night by Luckey shoots Chaps past UTPB in overtime
LUBBOCK, Texas (February 21, 2015) – A.J. Luckey set Lubbock Christian and Heartland Conference records from the free throw line on his way to a career-high 36 points in an 81-75 overtime victory over Texas-Permian Basin Saturday afternoon at the Rip Griffin Center to keep the Chaps with a grip on second place in the league with one week of play remaining.

The Chaps (15-10, 12-6) needed this win over UTPB (16-10, 11-7) in order to move past the Falcons and climb within a half-game of St. Mary's at 12-5. A Rogers State loss now has LCU and the Hillcats in the number two spot at 12-6 while UTPB, Arkansas-Fort Smith and St. Edward's sit a game behind at 11-7.

Luckey's 23-of-30 showing from the line eclipsed the marks of 17 makes set by Toby Rogers in 1992 and the 20 attempts by both Rod Young (1995) and James Omondi (2000), while also blowing away the Heartland record of 17 makes and 20 attempts, both performed by Jerry Dixon of Rogers State last season. Luckey's 30 attempts are the third-most by a NCAA Division II player this season.

While the Chaps only led for 6:08 during the 45-minute contest, they made it happen at pivotal moments, first on a pair of Luckey free throws with seven minutes remaining. UTPB's Codye Hatcher hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to give the Falcons a 60-59 advantage before Isaac Cardona hit a pair to give the Chaps the lead back. A three-point play by Falcon Xavier Martin put UTPB up by a pair before Luckey once again came through with two more from the line to send the game into overtime.

With LCU down 65-63 in the extra period and 4:15 on the clock, Luckey hit a floater in the lane to tie the ballgame, and a foul by UTPB 30 seconds later prompted an outburst by Falcon Chris Griffin to warrant a technical foul, sending Luckey to the line for the double bonus and an additional two shots for the technical. Luckey hit his thirteenth and fourteenth straight to put the Chaps up 69-65.

A three-pointer by Luckey for his eleventh consecutive point extended LCU's lead to 72-66, but the Falcons closed to within a pair following a free throw and a three. With 71 seconds left to play, Thursday night's hero, Isaac Cardona, faced up from the left wing to launch a shot from behind the arc that bounced around before falling through to give the Chaps a five-point edge.

Matthew Alford, who sat out Thursday's game due to injury, provided two monumental free throws with 15 seconds on the clock for a 77-72 Chap lead. UTPB's Madison Turner nailed a quick three on the ensuing possession to pull the Falcons to within a pair, but Luckey was then sandwiched on the inbounds drawing a personal and flagrant foul against UTPB. His four shots from the charity stripe gave the Chaps an 81-75 lead as the Falcons gave up in the final seven seconds, not even attempting to play defense on the final possession.

LCU won the game despite shooting 32-percent from the floor compared to 46-percent by the Falcons. The Chaps, however, were 39-of-48 from the line as UTPB went 20-of-33 and forced the Falcons into 24 turnovers.

Beau Durham had a solid game for the Chaps, nearly earning a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Cardona added a dozen despite battling early foul trouble.

For UTPB, Griffin had a team-high 24 points.