Lubbock Christian (15-11, 12-7 Heartland) at Texas A&M International (12-15, 7-12 Heartland)
Saturday, February 28 at 3 p.m.
Laredo, Texas (Kinesiology and Convocation Center)
 
LAREDO, Texas (February 27, 2015) – Following a 66-63 loss at St. Mary's Thursday night, Lubbock Christian had their Heartland Conference title hopes taken away, but are still fighting for a second-place finish within the league. The game versus the Dustdevils marks the final contest in 2014-15 for the Chaps as they finish up their final year of playing without any postseason opportunity while complying with the NCAA transitional process.
 
About Texas A&M International
The Dustdevils have fallen out of contention for a Heartland Conference tournament berth with a 7-12 league record.
 
History between Chaps and Dustdevils
LCU leads the all-time series, 2-1, with last season marking the first meetings between the two squads with each team taking a victory. The Chaps dominated TAMIU in Lubbock this year to own the edge in the series.
 
Last meeting between LCU and TAMIU
LUBBOCK, Texas (December 18, 2014) – Lubbock Christian cruised to a 73-55 victory over Texas A&M International in the teams' Heartland Conference opener behind a game-high 14 points from both A.J. Luckey and Ridrell Holman, along with a career-high dozen points from Marcos Schuster Thursday night at the Rip Griffin Center.

The Chaps (4-3, 1-0 Heartland), picked to finish sixth in the conference preseason poll, only trailed the Dustdevils (5-4, 0-1 Heartland), predicted as a third-place finisher, for 25 seconds at the start of the contest and led by as many as 29 early into the second half. LCU was quite efficient from the floor, connecting on the majority of their field goals (23-of-44), hitting half of their shots from behind the arc (8-of-16) and nailing 19-of-21 from the free throw line.

Not only did the Chaps shoot the ball well, but the team also was solid defensively, holding TAMIU to 36-percent shooting and keeping Dustdevil leading scorer Patrick Carlson to 10 points below his season average of 17.

LCU displayed energy and confidence from the moment the ball was tipped with Marcus Arrington setting the tone with a hard drive for the first points of the evening. The Dustdevils responded with a three-pointer from David Horst, but that lead would quickly disappear after a steal and layup by Schuster to give the Chaps a lead they would never again relinquish.

Arrington hit a three and then went coast-to-coast to put the Chaps up 9-3 five minutes into the game. TAMIU twice cut the lead to six within the next four minutes, but LCU went on a scoring frenzy, outscoring the Dustdevils 19-2 over the next four-and-a-half minutes. During that span, Beau Durham collected three of his career-high 10 rebounds and scored four points, and Luckey registered seven consecutive Chap points to push LCU's lead to 23 with 6:37 remaining before the break.

Perhaps the most emphatic play of the game came at the 2:33 mark when Schuster chased down TAMIU's Marcus Hall on a breakaway layup and pinned Hall's shot against the backboard. Durham chased down the rejected attempt, passed out to Arrington who found Holman in the corner for a three-pointer he hit while falling down that forced TAMIU to call a timeout.

Another steal and layup by Schuster and a three-point play by Holman put LCU out in front, 43-17, before Matt Alford made two free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt as the shot clock expired to put the Chaps up 45-20 at the break.

The second half was comprised of more LCU highlights, including a pair of three-pointers from John Lewis, his first since joining the squad, which extended the Chap advantage to 67-40 with just over six minutes left to play. The Dustdevils then strung together a 7-0 run, but the damage had already been done, giving LCU a 1-0 start in league play.

For TAMIU, Montrice McKnight scored 13 points, and Vadal Faniel had 11.
 
Regular season title chances slither away from Chaps
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (February 26, 2015) – Lubbock Christian fell out of contention to win at least a share of what could have been their first Heartland Conference regular season title with a 66-63 loss to St. Mary's Thursday afternoon at Bill Greehey Arena and now will by vying for spot number two come their regular season finale on Saturday.

The Chaps (15-11, 12-7 Heartland) controlled their own destiny, needing a pair of wins during the last week of league play to grab a piece of the regular season championship, but were plagued by missed free throws, foul trouble and rebounding in the close contest that included seven ties and six lead changes.

Isaac Cardona scored 20 points and hauled in eight rebounds, while A.J. Luckey recorded 11 points and Marcos Schuster added 11, but the Chaps were unable to overcome a 12-for-20 performance at the line and giving up 18 offensive boards that led to 20 Rattler second chance points.

The first fifteen minutes of the contest saw neither team gross a lead larger than three before a baseline floater by Schuster and a drive from Cardona put the Chaps up 21-17. StMU's Bryce Smith then knocked down a trio of free throws after LCU was whistled for a foul on his shot attempt to cut the lead to one. Luckey and Cardona each hit a jumper to extend the advantage to five, and Schuster converted a shot in the paint for a 27-20 Chap edge. Rattler Isaiah Matthews connected on a shot with just over a minute remaining before Cardona drained a three-pointer to give LCU the largest lead of the game at 30-22 with 39 seconds before halftime.

A dunk by StMU's Justin Alexander at the 16:58 mark after the break ignited the Rattlers, cutting LCU's lead to 36-34. Three free throws along with a steal and layup by Marvin Whitt gave St. Mary's (17-9, 14-5 Heartland) their first lead since the 9:16 mark of the first half to go ahead 39-38. Schuster regained the advantage for LCU on a layup, but the Chaps were unable to convert another field goal until Matthew Alford put in a Cardona miss to pull LCU to within 46-44 with just under nine minutes left.

Three more shots from the charity stripe put the Rattlers up by five with seven minutes remaining in the contest, but a trio from Alford cut the deficit to 49-47 over the next 40 seconds. A nice move by Marcus Arrington in the paint made the score 56-54, but StMU' Marvin Binney came through with a dagger of a three-pointer, followed by an Alexander bucket to swell the Rattler lead to 61-54 with 2:12 left to play. The Chaps pieced together a 5-0 run on a Cardona basket and a three-pointer by Beau Durham from the top of the key to make it a one-possession game.

The Chaps closed the gap to a single point on two occasions, with the last occurring on a Luckey drive from half court, but Luckey was called for his fifth foul on the next trip down the floor, sending the Chaps' leading scorer to the bench. Binney made his free throws for a 66-63 Rattler lead, giving LCU 15 seconds to score, but the Chaps were unable connect, as St. Mary's earned the right to host the Heartland Conference tournament next week as the number-one seed.

The Chaps conclude the 2014-15 with a regular season contest at Texas A&M International Saturday at 3 p.m. Beginning next season, LCU will be able to compete in NCAA postseason play after undergoing a two-year probation while transitioning into NCAA Division II.