LUBBOCK, Texas (January 21, 2016) – Tyler Rogers matched his season-high of 19 points for Lubbock Christian University in an 82-71 victory over the University of Texas of the Permian Basin Thursday night inside the Rip Griffin Center as LCU welcomed home volleyball student-athlete Malori Maddox and her family.
 
The Chaps (11-6, 5-4 Heartland) hit 28-of-59 shots from the field, 21-of-26 from the three-point line and outrebounded the Falcons (8-9, 3-6 Heartland) by 15 to propel them over the .500 mark in conference play. Isaac Cardona nearly secured a double-double with his nine points and game-high 12 rebounds while Marcos Schuster recorded 11 points and A.J. Luckey added 10.
 
The arrival of Malori at the 3:07 mark of the first half seemed to spark LCU as the team turned a 30-28 deficit into a 39-33 advantage leading into a special halftime presentation for the Maddox family. While Malori was in Dallas throughout the previous months in recovery, the LCU athletic family held fundraisers and raised over $8,900 to help cover medical expenses. At midcourt the Maddox family was presented with the money collected by Malori's fellow student-athletes.
 
Less than a minute into the second half, Matthew Alford gave the Chaps their first double-digit lead as Cardona found him cutting through the lane for an easy layup. UTPB's Johnnie Lacy trimmed the deficit to eight on a three-pointer with 15:38 on the clock, but Ridrell Holman dropped in a three from the right wing along with two free throws, and Rogers added a layup to nearly double the lead to 58-43 within two minutes.
 
The Falcons stayed in the game and closed to within 66-57 on a four-point play by Lacy with nine minutes to go. The squads traded four free throws each for a 74-62 game in favor of the Chaps with 5:20 to play and repeated the scenario a minute later to push LCU in front 80-67 before Luckey scored in the paint and Lacy closed the game with a layup and pair of free throws.
 
For UTPB, Lacy scored a game-high 23 points.
 
The Chaps continue at home Saturday against St. Edward's at 3 p.m. Approximately 30 minutes prior to tip and immediately following the women's game, LCU Athletics invites the community to come view a very special presentation and be involved in the "Star Wars" theme day.