WICHITA FALLS, Texas (March 13, 2016) – The careers of Lubbock Christian University men's basketball seniors Matthew Alford and A.J. Luckey came to a close Sunday night in a hard fought 69-63 loss to Tarleton State in the semifinals of the South Central Regional Tournament at D.L. Ligon Coliseum during the first NCAA postseason run in program history.
 
The Chaps (21-10, 14-6 Heartland), seeded last in the eight-team field, were playing their second game is as many nights after taking down the host team and number-one seed Midwestern State in overtime Saturday evening. LCU led 33-30 at the half, but Tarleton State (23-8, 9-5 Lone Star) outscored the Chaps by nine after the break to move on to the championship game against Angelo State on Tuesday.
 
In his final game in a Chap uniform, Luckey shared team-high scoring honors of 12 points alongside Tyler Rogers while Alford finished his stretch at LCU by compiling four points and five rebounds.
 
The opening portion of the contest was a battle, as was the majority of the game, where only 13 combined points were scored within the initial seven minutes after a Xavier Smith three-pointer put the Texans up 8-5. Isaac Cardona converted two plays each resulting in three points by draining a shot at the top of the key and producing an and-one to give the Chaps their first lead of the game at 13-10. A dunk by Rogers from Ridrell Holman again upped the margin midway through the half.
 
Marcus Arrington added a trey, but five points by TSU's E.J. Reed and a jumper by Charles Hill pushed the Texans in front at 19-18 at the 6:53 mark. Three straight field goals by LCU handed the Chaps a five-point advantage until Texan Charles Hill knocked down a three with 4:24 until the half. A three-point play by Tarleton's Malcolm Hamilton made it a one-point game until Michael Grant drove through the lane to score at put LCU up 33-30 heading into halftime.
 
The Texans opened with an offensive board and putback while the Chaps remained scoreless for four minutes until Luckey hit a jumper to knot the contest at 35-35. Back-to-back shots from beyond the arc and a three-point play from the Texans placed LCU at a 51-44 deficit, and another three-pointer from Hamilton put Tarleton up by double-digits. Two free throws by Rogers brought the Chaps back to within eight but a layup, dunk and free throw placed LCU at a 59-46 disadvantage with 5:23 to play.
 
A layup by Alford made it a 63-54 game with just over two minutes remaining, but the Chaps misfired on three attempts from the field until Luckey scored with 11 ticks left on the clock to cut the margin to 67-61. The Texans finished off the night with three free throws to end the historic season by the Chaps.

LCU concluded the 2015-16 season by obtaining the sixth 20-win season in program history and completing the year with an unblemished 10-0 conference record at home.