LUBBOCK, Texas (January 7, 2015) – Tyler Rogers tied his season-high of 19 points and Scout Teal provided strong inside play to guide Lubbock Christian University to a hard-fought 73-66 win over Newman University Thursday night inside the Rip Griffin Center as the Chaps held the Jets to 23 points below their season scoring average.
 
LCU (9-4, 3-2 Heartland) benefitted from career-highs of eight points and seven rebounds by Teal in his 20 minutes of action off of the bench as the Chaps outrebounded the Jets (9-4, 2-3 Heartland) 44-to-29 and took advantage of 15 Newman turnovers by converting them into 20 points. Ridrell Holman offered 13 points and eight rebounds while A.J. Luckey added nine points and a six assists after being recognized as the seventh Chap to reach 1,000 career points and receiving his commemorative ball at midcourt prior to tip.
 
A 14-3 LCU run turned a one-point deficit into a double-digit lead midway through the second half that contained six successive points each from Matthew Alford and Rogers. Another four straight points encompassed a 10-0 run by Rogers to put the Chaps up 54-45 with 8:13 on the clock.
 
The Jets stuck close with LCU, pulling to within four points on several occasions within the final minutes. A Luckey free throw bounced in with 1:45 remaining to give the Chaps a 67-61 cushion, but the margin was cut to four on a bucket by NU's Jalen Love with just over a minute to go. Marcus Arrington came up with a steal and knocked down three of his four attempts at the free throw line for a seven-point advantage with 26 seconds on the clock. Jarvis Williams of Newman drilled a three-pointer from the right wing six ticks later to once again slice the gap to four points.
 
The Jets called a timeout before heaving the ball from the far baseline, but Alford was there to interrupt the pass midair and Rogers grabbed it and was immediately fouled. Two free throws by Rogers with seven seconds lingering preserved the victory for the Chaps.
 
A 4-1 LCU lead to begin the game quickly turned into a 14-5 Newman advantage following back-to-back threes by Williams and five consecutive points from Gavin Thurman. Baskets by Rogers and Isaac Cardona preceded a Holman jumper and a three-point play by Rogers knotted the game at 14-all with under 10 minutes to play in the first half. A pair of threes from Holman gave the Chaps a 20-17 lead and two free throws by Teal upped the margin to five with 6:48 until halftime. LCU had a chance to increase the lead to nine within the final minute but was unsuccessful on a shot under the hoop that led to Newman racing to a layup as the horn sounded to send LCU into the locker room leading 34-29.
 
The Chaps wrap up their first conference homestand hosting Oklahoma Christian Saturday at 3 p.m.