HISTORY BETWEEN THE SQUADS
Lubbock Christian and Dallas Baptist first met in the 1965-66 season, where the Patriots grabbed the initial victory. Today, DBU has a 25-16 all-time. LCU overpowered the Patriots in their last encounter with a 78-57 win on Jan. 30 in Lubbock, Texas. The LCU win completed a season series split, as DBU defeated LCU 93-67 on Jan.4 in Dallas, which marks the last game played at DBU in the series. The Chaparrals are 3-3 against Dallas Baptist in the Todd Duncan era.
 
HEARTLAND CONTENTION
The Chaps are walking around with targets on their backs, as they were preseason picked to finish second in Heartland Conference play. In the 2015-16 season, Lubbock Christian, Dallas Baptist and Arkansas Fort Smith were selected to compete in the NCAA South Central Regional tournament. Of the three Heartland teams, LCU was the only program to make it out of the first round with a win over No.1-seeded Midwestern State University.
 
Headed into conference play, LCU is sitting in fourth place, just behind DBU. The Chaps hold a 6-4 record compared to the 4-4 Patriots heading into Saturday's contest. LCU is 1-2 in Heartland Conference openers all-time (second time they have opened with Dallas Baptist). Last season, they opened conference play with a 61-49 loss at Texas A&M International (Dec. 17, 2015).
 
LAST GAME RECAP
Lubbock Christian University wrapped up their non-conference schedule Tuesday night with a 73-67 victory over Eastern New Mexico University at Greyhound Arena, in a game that featured 16 scoring changes.
 
The Chaps were led by strong play from their big men. Brennen Fowler battled his way to a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Chuck Kendley picked up right where he left off at Cameron, posting 18 points and seven boards. Senior Ridrell Holman led the Chaps from behind the arc (4-of-11) and tallied 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and one steal. LCU outrebounded the Greyhounds 43-36 and had a 32-22 scoring advantage in the paint.
 
LCU struck first, as Chuck Kendley cut to the hole and laid the ball up and in for the game's first points. The Chaps went back and forth with the Greyhounds until Marcos Schuster drained his first and only three-pointer of the evening to put Lubbock Christian up 8-5. Eastern New Mexico's Marquise Harris then took matters into his own hands and scored back-to-back three-pointers followed by a monstrous dunk to spark a 12-4 run and put the Greyhounds up 20-14 with 7:57 left in the first half. After the break, Lubbock Christian began cutting into Eastern's six-point lead, but a CoRnell Neal three-pointer put the Greyhounds up 23-16 and gave ENMU their largest of the half. LCU's final bucket of the half came on a Ridrell Holman three-pointer with 1:56 left before the break, to cut Eastern's lead to one. Unfortunately, ENMU scored the final four points to take a 31-26 lead at halftime.
 
Although Lubbock Christian shot a meager 8-22 (36.4%) from the field, they were still able to hold the Greyhounds to 37.5% shooting (12/32). Kendley (eight points) and Holman (seven points) kept the Chaps close in the first half. Heading into the contest, ENMU was ranked fourth in the nation with 303 free throw attempts. In the first half, Lubbock Christian limited the Greyhound to two free throws. Eastern grabbed the rebounding advantage in the first half by snagging 21 boards compared to LCU's 14. 
 
Although Eastern's Neal struck first in the second half with a long range jumper from behind the arc, Lubbock Christian wasted no time with a 10-0 run highlighted by consecutive three-pointers from Holman to put the Chaps up 36-34. But again, ENMU had an answer and Javaan Mumatz nailed a pair of treys to regain the Greyhounds lead. The two squads continued to trade blows as their would be six more lead changes until Marcos Schuster split a pair of free throws to give the Chaparrals their final lead of the contest at 65-64 with 4:24 left to play. LCU and ENMU went on a scoring drought where neither team was able to convert a bucket until Isaac Cardona knocked down a mid-range jumper to give Lubbock Christian some life. The Chaps closed out the game scoring six of the game's final nine points on their way to a handy 73-67 victory.
 
Lubbock Christian came out to play in the second half, as they dropped 47 points compared to their 26 points in the first half. Sophomore Brennen Fowler added all 10 of his rebounds in the second period. Fowler shot 7-of-10 from the field and scored 14 of his 19 points after halftime. Brennen's second half highlight reel lifted the Chaps to a 54.5% (18/33) shooting mark. As for the boards, LCU outshined the Greyhounds on the glass 29-15 in the second period. Fowler was not the only Chaparral to score in the double-figures in the second half as Holman and Kendley each netted 11 points and 10 points, respectively.
 
ENMU kept themselves in the contest after halftime with their three-point game. The Greyhounds shot 7-of-15 from behind the arc in the second period while shooting 11-27 from the field. CoRnell Neal and Marquise Harris led Eastern New Mexico with 17 points for the night. The duo accounted for eight of the team's 12 three-pointers. Neal also added six assists and two steals.
 
THREE-HEADED MONSTER
The Chaps have proven time and again this season that they rarely lose games in the paint. Brennen Fowler continues to average a double-double with 15 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. The 6-7 sophomore has been a scoring machine as he has posted double-figures in nine out of 10 games. Of those ten games, Fowler has started in nine and grabbed a double-double in six contests (fifth in the nation in the category and one behind the national leaders).
 
Senior Isaac Cardona has been efficient as well averaging 6.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Cardona has been a staple for the Chaps by starting in all ten contests so far. The Port Lavaca native is not allowing himself to be boxed into the typical "big-man" label as he is tied for first on the team with 30 assists.
 
Redshirt Freshman Chuck Kendley has been on a tear, as of late, with 19 points and 10 boards against Cameron on Saturday night. Kendley made his first start of the season against Eastern New Mexico on Tuesday night and went off with an 18-point, seven-rebound performance.
 
THE CURSE OF BURG CENTER
In the past six meetings with the Patriots, the Chaps hold a 3-3 record. While all three victories have been by eight points or more, all three have also come inside Rip Griffin Center. In the past three years, LCU has been unable to get over the hump and knock down Dallas Baptist in their home arena.
 
SECOND HALF STAR POWER
The Chaparrals have been a second half team so far this season. In seven of their ten games, Lubbock Christian second half play has outscored their first half play. In their last game against Eastern New Mexico, LCU went into halftime with a 31-26 deficit. The Chaps then came out and exploded on the Greyhounds for 47-second half points. In total, LCU has 40 or more second half points in six of their 10 contests.
 
DALLAS BAPTIST LOW DOWN
·    The Patriots have done an excellent job of spreading their success around so far. Dallas Baptist ranks ninth nationally with 19.8 assists per game in eight games played. Julian Miranda has come off of the bench to dish out 3.8 assists per game and 30 total assists on the season.
·    DBU's pressure defense has been an issue for their opponents thus far. On average, the Patriots are forcing 19.4 turnovers per game. As a squad, DBU has already swiped 73 steals.
·    Dallas Baptist was preseason picked to finish third in Heartland play. Redshirt Senior Myles Johnson and junior Patrick Burke were headlined the Preseason All-Heartland Conference team. Patrick Burke was selected as the 2015-16 Heartland Conference Tournament's Most Valuable Player.
·    The Patriots have kept a stingy defense in their first eight games by holding their teams to 69 points per game, DBU has allowed their opponents to get to the line and convert an average of 15 free throws per game.
·    Dallas Baptist begins their conference season on Saturday as the reigning Heartland Conference Tournament champions. The Patriots took down the Arkansas Fort Smith Lions for DBU's first Heartland Conference title in program history. DBU's 2015-16 season came to a halt after a 95-87 loss against Fort Lewis College in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament. Head coach Blake Flickerman returns six players from last year's roster including seniors Myles Johnson and Jordan Pratt.
 
PRIOR MEETING WITH DALLAS BAPTIST
LUBBOCK, Texas (January 30, 2016) – Marcos Schuster's season-high 18 points steered Lubbock Christian University to a 78-57 beating of Dallas Baptist inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
The Chaparrals (14-6, 8-4 Heartland) turned things around from a 26-point loss at DBU on January 4 by holding the Patriots (14-5, 8-3 Heartland) to 35-percent shooting (6-of-22 from behind the arc) compared to a 64-percent showing from the field (15-of-28 on three-pointers) in the prior meeting.
 
LCU took control from the tip by racing out to an 11-3 lead, capped by three-pointers from Schuster and Matthew Alford. Brennen Fowler scored three of his nine first half points on an and-one in the paint to put the Chaps up by 11 with 14:13 on the clock. The Patriots (14-5, 8-3 Heartland) outscored LCU 11-2 over next four minutes to pull within a deuce, but the Chaps scored the next 11 for a 31-18 advantage. Marcus Arrington provided a score on an up-and-under move and Ridrell Holman hit a floater in the lane to give LCU their biggest lead of the half at 37-20.
 
Schuster and A.J. Luckey opened the second half with back-to-back three pointers and Alford added three points on a score and a free throw to give the Chaps a 48-26 lead. DBU never pulled closer than 17 points the remainder of the game due in part to 13 second-half points by Tyler Rogers.
 
For LCU, Alford added 10 points, while Fowler's nine were a career-high. For DBU, Myles Johnson registered 12 points, Tim Simmons had 11 points and Patrick Burke added 10 points.