No.17 WASHBURN UNIVERSITY (5-0, 0-0 MIAA) vs LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (5-2, 0-0 Heartland)
Saturday, November 26 - 10:00 AM
Coliseo Roberto Clemente Coliseum (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Radio: AM950/100.7FM
All-Time Series: First Ever Meeting
Tweet #LCUvsWU
 
PUERTO RICO WRAP UP
Lubbock Christian University will put a bow on their 2016 regular season tournament play as they take on the No. 17 Washburn University Ichabods Saturday morning at 10:00 am (Central). This will be the Chaps third matchup of the season against a ranked opponent. Currently, LCU holds a 1-1 against ranked opponents with their lone victory coming over then-No. 16 West Texas A&M University.
 
LCU is sitting at a 5-2 record and is looking to continue building steam as they move closer to Heartland play. The Chaparrals opened up their season with six-straight games inside Rip Griffin Center. Lubbock Christian will follow up their Puerto Rico play with five consecutive away games.
 
CHAP ON THE RUN
Marcos Schuster has integrated himself seamlessly into the Chap offense. In his first three games this season, Schuster has led LCU scorers in all three contests. In his last game against Northwood University, Marcos dropped a career-high 24 points, in which his final three points gave the Chaps the 76-75 victory. Schuster leads Lubbock Christian with 20.3 points and 4.7 assists per game. The Lubbock native has also been reliable on defense as he has snagged 10 steals in three games.
 
Brennen Fowler continues to be a rebounding machine, averaging 11.1 per game for the Chaps. While a majority of his points have come from around the paint, he has still been able to knock down a pair of three-pointers in his first seven games. The Smyer, Texas native has been a wall on defense and has picked up 18 of the Chaps 29 blocks on his own this year. Fowler's 21 points helped LCU improve their record to 5-2 in the game against Northwood on Friday.
 
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath has come off of the bench and provided a second wind for LCU with 8.6 points per game. In his most recent performance against Northwood University, Gilbreath dropped 13-points and three assists. Ja'Qualyn has been lights-out from the free throw line with a 95.7 percentage (22-23).
 
LAST GAME RECAP
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (November 25, 2016) – Jure Prus of Northwood University (Mich.) hit a 55-foot heave at the horn to force overtime and Lubbock Christian University would be without the lead until 4.5 seconds remained, as Marcos Schuster capped a game-high 24-point performance with an old-fashioned three-point-play to open their stay at the Puerto Rico Clasico with a 76-75 win Friday afternoon. The win, which was LCU's first game played away from home, extends their win streak to five wins.
 
Brennen Fowler was right behind Schuster with 21 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Lubbock Christian was held to their lowest field goal percentage of the season (39.7%) on 27-of-68 shooting.
 
Lubbock Christian's offense looked like they were shot out of a cannon as they scurried to a 13-2 lead at the 13:32 mark of the first half (LCU opened with an 11-0 run). The Timberwolves finally found their rhythm with back-to-back three pointers from Kyle Lamotte and PJ Weaver to cut into the Chaps lead. Northwood's Kyle Godfrey drained his second trey of the game to give the Timberwolves their first lead of the contest at 18-17 with 7:23 left in the first half. Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath stepped up and knocked down a three-pointer to help the Chaps regain the lead at 22-20. Zach Allread netted consecutive three-pointers to give the Timberwolves their last lead of the half and help NU coast to a 32-30 lead at the break.
 
Northwood found their range and picked the Chaps apart by shooting 6-of-15 (40%) from behind the arc. Lubbock Christian found themselves in uncharted territory as they were outrebounded 22-14 in the first period. The Chaparrals pressured Northwood and forced the Timberwolves into 10 turnovers. Marcus Arrington and Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath knocked down the Chaps only three-pointers of the half.
 
It was Marcus Arrington that drilled a pair of free throws to give the Chaps an early 36-34 lead two minutes into the second period. A Schuster three-pointer sparked an LCU run before a Gilbreath "and-one" gave the Chaparrals a six-point lead, their largest of the half at 44-38. Both squads battled and traded leads for the remainder of the half and LCU gradually grabbed the momentum off a pair of three-pointers by Schuster and one by Gilbreath in the final 3:35. Isaac Cardona netted a free throw to give Lubbock Christian a 63-60 lead with one second left to play. Cardona missed on his second free throw attempt and the Timberwolves quickly rebounded and called a timeout with one second left on the clock. It set up the inbound and shot by Jure Prus from his own backcourt that gave new life to the Timberwolves and tied up the score at 63-63.
 
Northwood's Nick Spitzley opened up the scoring in the overtime period with a three-pointer at the 4:15 mark. Not to be shown up, Lubbock Christian's Fowler ripped his second three pointer of the year to tie up the contest 66-66 with 2:57 left in the period. The Timberwolves regained their lead with a Spitzley free throw to put NU up 75-73 with 14 seconds left to play. LCU would not go away and Schuster attacked the net to collect a layup and a foul with 4.5 seconds remaining. With the game tied up again at 75-75, Schuster drilled a clutch free throw to give the Chaparrals a 76-75 lead. This closed out the contest and gave Lubbock Christian their fifth straight win and a 5-2 record.
 
The Chaps finished the game shooting 27-68 (39%) and 34% from downtown. Schuster's 24 points were capitalized by four treys and 6-8 free throws. Fowler and Cardona each pulled down 13 rebounds while the Chaps were outrebounded 48-43 for the first game of the season. In addition to his double-double, Fowler also added four blocks for LCU. This was the lowest scoring victory for Lubbock Christian, and was highlighted by three Chaps scoring in double figures.
 
WASHBURN FACTS
- Washburn's game against Lubbock Christian will be their third and final contest in San Juan. The Ichabods defeated Northwood University 66-64 on Wednesday afternoon and Universidad Metropolitana 86-61 on Friday afternoon.
- Washburn University competes in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The Ichabods were preseason picked to finish second in the MIAA.
- Washburn has rushed to a 5-0 start this season behind five returning starters from the 2015-16 season. Sophomore Javion Blake returns to the Ichabods after being named Freshman of the Year in 2015-16. So far, Blake is averaging 16-points in four starts. Also returning, Brady Skeens has collected 13 blocks while averaging 10.8 rebounds per game. Skeens was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year last season.
- The Ichabods have imposed their offense so far this year with a 51% field goal percentage compared to a 40% opponent shooting average. Washburn is averaging 79.8 points per game while holding the opposition to 68.3 points per game.
- Bob Chipman is in his 37th season as Washburn's head coach. In his tenure with the Ichabods, Chipman has mounted a 793-343 record. He is now just seven wins shy of the 800-win mark and would be the 14^th coach to reach the milestone.