Newman (11-8, 7-6 Heartland) at Lubbock Christian (12-8, 9-4 Heartland)
Saturday, February 7 at 3 p.m.
Lubbock, Texas (Rip Griffin Center)
 
About Newman
The Jets have amassed an overall record of 11-8 and are 7-6 in the Heartland.
 
History between Chaps and Jets
Following LCU's 76-79 win in Wichita on January 8, the Chaps now lead the all-time series 2-1, having faced each other for the first time last season and the squads each winning their respective home contest.
 
Last meeting between LCU and NU
WICHITA, Kan. (January 8, 2015) – Matthew Alford's first career double-double in addition to a near perfect shooting night from the free throw line by Lubbock Christian gave the Chaps a 76-69 win over Newman Thursday night at Fugate Gymnasium, leaving LCU as the only team remaining in the Heartland Conference with an unblemished record.
Alford's game-highs of 19 points and 12 rebounds were also a career best. A.J. Luckey was 11-of-11 from the free throw line on his way to 18 points, and Isaac Cardona scored 16. The Chaps (7-4, 4-0 Heartland) went an impressive 26-of-28 from the charity stripe, including 24-of-26 after halftime. A loss by No. 15 St. Edward's (4-1 Heartland) to Texas-Permian Basin tonight places LCU in sole possession of first place in the league.
Perhaps Alford's biggest plays of the evening occurred within the final three minutes of the contest with the Chaps clinging to a 65-63 lead over the Jets (5-6, 1-4 Heartland). Off of a Luckey miss, Alford corralled the offensive board and drew the foul to double LCU's to four. The ensuing free throw resulted in a rare miss and gave the Jets an opportunity for a pair which Ryan McCarthy converted on the other end to slice the Chap lead to 67-65 with 2:15 left on the clock. On the next trip down the floor, Alford put the ball through the hoop as the shot clock expired and hit the floor hard to put him at the line once again. His successful free throw put LCU ahead, 70-65, with 1:38 to go.
NU's Reggie Baker hit two freebies to make it a one possession game, and Luckey lost his dribble on the next possession, but the Jets were unable to capitalize, missing a three-pointer. The Chaps then closed out the contest by draining their final six free throws.
The game began with Cardona putting on a clinic, scoring 10 points within the first four minutes which included the Chaps first eight points. The game stayed extremely close until LCU put together an 8-0 run to scoot ahead 36-25 at the break. The start of the second half did not go in LCU's favor, as the team went a combined 3-of-13 during the next eight minutes to allow the Jets to close within 47-45 with just until twelve minutes remaining.
The Chaps earned the win despite committing a season-high 20 turnovers, with resulted in 20 Jet points off of miscues, but outrebounded NU 47-to-27.
For the Jets, Baker registered 19 points, James Pegues had 14, Cortrael Colbert tallied 13, Jeremy Espinoza contributed 11 and McCarthy added 10.
The Chaps finish their first conference road trip of the season Saturday at Oklahoma Christian at 3 p.m.

Cardona, Durham guide Chaps in victory over Eagles
LUBBOCK, Texas (February 5, 2015) – Isaac Cardona and Beau Durham were catalysts in Lubbock Christian's 80-65 win over Oklahoma Christian on Thursday evening at the Rip Griffin Center, allowing the Chaps a continued piece of first place in the Heartland Conference, with Cardona posting a career-high 23 points and Durham notching his first career double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Chaps (12-8, 9-4 Heartland), who are now in a three-way tie atop league standings along with St. Mary's and Arkansas-Fort Smith, avenged a 20-point loss to the Eagles (3-16, 1-12 Heartland) that occurred on January 20 by sinking over half of their shot attempts (31-of-61), outrebounding OC and forcing 20 Eagle turnovers.
Big men Cardona and Durham combined to hit four of LCU's eight three-pointers in the contest and did a reasonable job battling against the much taller Eagle front court. The duo was also instrumental in LCU's 42-to-16 scoring advantage in the paint.
Trailing 18-13 midway through the first half, Durham and Ridrell Holman outscored the entire Eagle offense, 13-2, to push the Chaps ahead 26-20 with just under six minutes to play. A pair of Durham threes sandwiched an and-one play by Holman before each player scored another bucket in the paint for the six-point advantage.
LCU held OC without a field goal from the 7:14 mark until 2:06 remaining in the first half when Eric Randall connected on a pair of jumpers on back-to-back possessions to cut the Chap lead to seven with under a minute to go. Durham came through with another field goal, and Holman netted a three-pointer as time expired to put LCU up 36-24 heading into the break.
While Durham did the bulk of his damage within the first twenty minutes, Cardona came alive at the start of the second stanza, producing a bucket 13 seconds in and then scoring on a reverse layup two possessions later. Another bucket in the paint and a pair a free throws at the 16:58 mark by Cardona extended LCU's lead to 46-29.
A jumper by Matthew Alford upped the advantage to 20 with 14:33 to go, while a Holman shot from deep gave the Chaps their largest lead of the night at 74-51 with five minutes remaining. Two late three-pointers by the Eagles cut the deficit to 15 for the final count.
Holman totaled 15 points for his third straight double-figure scoring game, and Marcos Schuster contributed 11 points off of the bench.
For the Eagles, Randall registered 19 points and John Moon had 14.