No. 21 COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES (1-0) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (0-1)
Saturday, November 12 - 7:00 PM                                             
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: KJTV AM950/100.7FM  
All-Time Series: Colorado School of Mines leads 1-0
 
BOUNCE BACK
For the first time in almost a year, the Chaparral's men's basketball team lost a home contest inside Rip Griffin Center. Despite a late game rally, the Chaps could not close the game out and ultimately lost the cross-conference matchup to Regis 80-78. This 2016-2017 season opener was the first of two games for LCU in the RMAC/Heartland Challenge taking place inside Rip Griffin Center. The Chaps will look for revenge as they take on No. 21 Colorado School of Mines Saturday night at 7pm in Rip Griffin Center.
 
RECAP
A hot-handed first half proved to be too much for the Chaps as Regis University's Ryan Beisty dropped a career-high 26 points. Beisty attacked the Chaps from behind the arc with 9-of-12 three-pointers, six of which came in the first half. After halftime, Brennen Fowler began chipping away at Regis by picking up an offensive rebound and converting to narrow the Regis lead to 48-40. The Rangers jumped out to a 14-point advantage, which would be their largest of the game, until a Michael Grant three-pointer sparked the Chaparral offense. Lubbock Christian clawed their way back and tied the game up at 69-69 on a three-pointer from Jay Workman. Beisty netted his final three-point shot of the night to put the Rangers back on top at 72-69. LCU was not done, as back-to-back buckets from Chuck Kendley and Tyler Rogers allowed the Chaps to take a late 74-72 lead with 3:35 left in the game. Regis would close out the contest on a 9-4 run to hand the Chaps their first loss of the season by a final score of 80-78. As a team, Lubbock Christian shot 54.5% from field goal range and just shy of 44% from behind the three-point line.
 
FRESH FACES
Freshmen Jay Workman and Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath both made their LCU debuts as Workman put in 23 minutes while Gilbreath logged 12. Workman picked up a steal on top of leading Lubbock Christian scorers with 14 points. His last-second jumper cut Regis' victory to 80-78. In Workman's 23 minutes, he was 6-of-7 from the field and a perfect 2-2 from three-point land.
 
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath netted five points in his 12 minutes for the Chaps. He also dished out three assists and had no turnovers. Gilbreath went one of 1-of-2 from downtown and added two free throws.
 
POWER IN THE PAINT
The Chaps big men showed up as Brennen Fowler and Isaac Cardona flirted with double-doubles. Fowler went 6-of-8 from the field for 13 points and nine rebounds. Cardona added 10 points and eight rebounds to help the Chaps grab 34 total boards. Lubbock Christian outscored the Rangers 32-18 in the paint.
 
HERE COMES THE CALVARY
The Lubbock Christian bench was a burst of energy for the Chaps on Friday night. In addition to freshman Jay Workman's 14 points, redshirt freshman Chuck Kendley hopped off the bench and added 10 points and four rebounds. The LCU bench outscored the Regis bench 35-14.
 
OPENING DAY WOES
The season opening loss to Regis University marked a couple of milestones for the LCU men's basketball program. With the defeat, a 10-game home winning streak was snapped. The Chaps had not lost a contest inside Rip Griffin Center since December 10, 2015 at the hands of then-No. 5 Angelo State University. Lubbock Christian took the Rams to overtime where ASU ultimately won 70-68. Further, LCU fell to 2-4 in season-openers under coach Todd Duncan. The Chaparrals are now 14-10 in season-openers dating back to the 1993-1994 season.  
 
FACTS ABOUT COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
- Colorado School of Mines comes into this contest 1-0 with an 87-81 victory over St. Mary's on Friday night. In their last meeting, the Orediggers outlasted the Chaps by a score of 83-68.
- The Orediggers were preseason picked to finish at the top of the RMAC. They are also ranked 21^st in the National Association of Basketball Coach preseason poll.
- School of Mines is full of youth as their 20-man roster only includes five seniors. Of those five seniors, only Gokul Natesan and Caleb Waitsman are starters.
- The Orediggers 2015-2016 season included an RMAC Championship. After making it to the NCAA National Tournament, they were bounced in the first round of the South Central Regional Tournament by Tarleton State University.
- Head Coach Orser Pryor enters his 16th season at the helm for Colorado School of Mines men's basketball.
 
PRIOR MEETING WITH COLORADO MINES
Nov. 14, 2015 (Golden, Colo.) – CSM: 83, LCU: 68
The Chaparrals had difficulty stopping Natesan, as he racked up a career and game-high 26 points (6-of-11 showing from three-point range). Foul trouble plagued LCU, as no Chap played more than 29 minutes in the game and made it difficult to gain any sort of rhythm. Cardona chalked up a perfect shooting night by going 4-of-4 from the floor by draining both of his three-point attempts and hitting his two free throws for 12 points. Teammates A.J. Luckey and Tyler Rogers also registered a team-high dozen points.
 
CSM knocked down all four of their shots from beyond the arc six minutes into the contest to take an 18-8 advantage and increased the gap to 12 on a Natesan three-pointer. A layup by Fowler and a three-pointer by Luckey cut the lead to seven, but another Nateson shot from deep upped the gap to 12. Ridrell Holman drilled a three from the right wing one second before the halftime buzzer sounded for a score of 44-35.
 
The teams traded buckets within the first three minutes of the second half, and a Cardona layup pulled the Chaps closer at 48-40. The Orediggers led 57-46 at the 12:15 mark before nine straight CSM points blew open the game at 66-46. Matthew Alford and Rogers each got the Chaps to within 13 points but not enough time remained for LCU to draw any closer.