CLAREMORE, Okla. (January 14, 2016) – A combined 62 fouls and 82 free throws were tallied in a 69-61 Lubbock Christian University loss to Rogers State Thursday night at the Claremore Expo Center in a game where RSU mustered only a dozen field goals but recorded 41 points from the line in the Chaparral defeat.
 
LCU (10-5, 4-3 Heartland) also spent adequate time at the charity stripe, knocking down 23-of-31 attempts in comparison to 41-of-51 by the Hillcats, which set an RSU attempts record and tied for the fourth-most makes and the eighth-most attempts in the history of the Heartland Conference, respectively. The 41 makes is also the fourth-highest mark in a single game within NCAA Division II men's basketball this season.
 
A three-pointer by Hillcat J.C. Hartlzer was the turning point of the game at the 2:56 mark to give RSU (12-3, 4-3 Heartland) a 59-56 edge to retake the lead from LCU, which they had just earned for the first time two minutes prior. Two free throws by RSU's Donald Moore upped the advantage to five and the margin remained the same as the teams took turns at the line until another pair by Hartlzer put the Hillcats in front 66-59 with 37 seconds left to play. Marcus Arrington cut the deficit to five seven ticks later on two freebies, but the Chaps were unable to score again as RSU made another pair of free throws in the final seconds.
 
RSU's Travis Hester and Moore opened up the Hillcat offense with back-to-back threes as the Chaps got on the board with two free throws and a score in the paint by Isaac Cardona along with a layup by Matthew Alford for a 6-6 ballgame. The Hillcats steadily outscored LCU 14-6 to extend the lead to 20-12 midway through the first half before a three-point play by Scout Teal and a single free throw by Tyler Rogers brought the Chaps to within four.
 
A foul shot by Johnathon Buckley of RSU gave the Hillcats a double-digit lead, but six Chap free throws and a pair of field goals pulled LCU to within 33-31 with 1:25 to go before the half. A layup and two shots from the line extended RSU's back to six with 43 seconds until intermission. A layup by Alford at the buzzer originally counted but was then waived off after the officials viewed the monitor allowing RSU to secure their six-point cushion at the break.
 
The Hillcats again led by 10 following two Johnson free throws three minutes into the second half before a midrange jumper by Teal, two foul shots by Rogers and a three-pointer from the left wing by Arrington drew the Chaps closer at 43-40 with 13:36 on the clock. Five straight points by Luckey handed LCU their first lead of the evening at 49-48 with 7:14 to play. Two jumpers in the lane by Luckey and a layup by Cardona put the Chaps up 56-52 before the lead was relinquished on two Moore shots from the foul line and Hartzler's dagger three-pointer.
 
For LCU, Arrington scored a team-high 13 points, Luckey recorded 12 and Rogers added 11.
 
For RSU, Hartzler totaled a game-high 20 points, Moore had 18 and Johnson contributed 14.
 
The Chaps will play in front of a national television audience at Arkansas-Fort Smith Saturday at 7 p.m. The game can be seen on the American Sports Network.