DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY (12-6, 6-2 Heartland) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (11-7, 5-3 Heartland)
Saturday, January 28, 2017 – 2:00 PM
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: DBU leads 25-17
Tweet #LCUvsDBU | Tweet #HeartlandMBB
 
HISTORY BETWEEN THE SQUADS
Dallas Baptist holds a 27-17 record over Lubbock Christian when junior college seasons are included and a 25-17 record since moving to a four-year status as a school. LCU's most recent loss to the Patriots came in a 93-67 defeat (Jan. 4, 2016) on Dallas Baptist's home court. The Chaps took the first matchup of this season in a 65-58 comeback victory in Dallas (Dec. 17, 2016). DBU's last win over LCU in Lubbock, came on Jan. 20, 1990 in a 65-58 fashion (inside the LCU Fieldhouse).
 
LOOK BACK AT THE LAST GAME
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (January 21, 2017) – Lubbock Christian University extended their success to a three-game win streak with a 75-72 Heartland Conference victory over Oklahoma Christian Saturday inside Eagles' Nest. LCU senior Ridrell Holman completed his third straight game as LCU's leading scorer with 16 points posted against the Eagles.  Marcus Arrington and Brennen Fowler each added in 15 points of their own in the Chap victory.
 
Oklahoma Christian had a hot start offensively and jumped out to an early 13-6 lead at the 15:12 mark of the opening period. The seven-point lead would be the Eagles' largest of the afternoon, and LCU answered with Marcus Arrington converting an old-fashioned three-point play to mount a comeback for the Chaps. Also playing a factor was a pair of technical fouls called on OC first-year head coach Cory Cole with LCU trailing 17-14. The double-technical resulted in Cole's ejection and four free-throws for LCU. Holman made three of the four free-throws and then nailed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession for a six-point swing and LCU never trailed the rest of the way. Following back-to-back buckets by Fowler, Lubbock Christian went on a six-minute scoring drought and it allowed the Eagles to cut the Chaps lead to 24-22 with 5:07 left in the half. Marcos Schuster ended the drought with a three-pointer and it pumped some life back into the LCU offense. Chuck Kendley closed out the half with a pair of free throws to widen the Chap lead to 32-27 at the break.
 
Ridrell Holman provided the first half heroics for LCU as he streaked out to 12 points on 3-for-4 shooting from the charity stripe and 60% (3-of-5) shooting from downtown. Schuster added all six of his first half points from three-point range. Although they held the lead at the break, the Chaps had a rough time on the offensive end. Five of Lubbock Christian's nine first half field goals came from beyond the arc to give LCU a 34.6% (9-of-26) field goal mark and a 45.5% three-point average. LCU's defense played a vital role with five blocks and 12 rebounds.
 
Marcus Mathieu and Elijah Strickland carried the OC offense by combining for 23 of the Eagles 27 points. Senior John Moon added in the remaining four points on a layup and a pair of free throws.
 
The Chaps came out of the locker room and stepped on the gas with a 9-1 run to take a 13-point lead at 41-28. The Eagles also found an offensive rhythm and knocked down four three-pointers in the span of three minutes to cut the LCU lead to 45-42 with 14:05 left to play. Right on cue, a dunk by Tyler Rogers extended the Chaparrals lead back to eight points at 54-46. Lubbock Christian kept the Eagles at a safe distance until Jordan Box knocked down an Oklahoma Christian triple, cutting the Chaps lead to 73-72 with three seconds to play. OC was forced to foul Ridrell Holman, sending him to line. Holman netted his two free throws to seal the Chaparral victory at 75-72.
 
Tyler Rogers owned the second half with 13 points on 71.4% (5-of-7) inside the arc and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Marcus Arrington and Brennen Fowler also got in the scoring column with 12 points and 11 points respectively. As a unit, Lubbock Christian shot 54.8% (17-of-31) from the field while holding the Eagles to just 38.5% (10-of-26). For the game, the Chaps tallied a 45.6% (26-of-57) field goal mark and a 76.2% (16-for-21) free throw average.
 
Elijah Strickland and Dorian Lopez each added 10-second half points to carry the OC offense. Oklahoma Christian's free throw shooting is what kept them in the game in the second period. In total, the Eagles shot 86.4% (19-for-22) from the stripe. Of their 10 second half field goals, six came from downtown for a 46.2% (6-of-10) three-point shooting mark.
 
SECOND HALF SURGE
The Chaps have made a habit of performing stronger in the second half as opposed to first. LCU is averaging 34.4 points in the first half compared to 41.3 points in the second half this season. In total, Lubbock Christian has recorded a higher scoring second-period on 14 different occasions. Three different times this season the Chaparrals have been down at halftime and come back to steal a victory, the most recent instance coming over Dallas Baptist (Dec. 17, 2016).
 
ROUNDING OUT JANUARY
The game against DBU will close out LCU's home schedule for the month of January. The Chaps have posted a 4-2 record for the month while averaging 74.6 points per game. Lubbock Christian has played two of their four games inside Rip Griffin Center this month. They split their two home games with an 84-64 win over Arkansas Fort Smith (Jan. 5, 2017) and a 58-49 loss to Rogers State (Jan. 7, 2017).
 
CRASHING THE BOARDS           
Rebounding has continuously played a strong role in LCU's success this season. The Chaps are averaging 38.6 rebounds per game, 27.17 of which have come on the defensive end of the floor. Overall, Lubbock Christian holds a 5.8 rebounding margin over opponents on the season.
 
Brennen Fowler leads the Heartland with 157 total rebounds and 8.7 rebounds per game. On the defensive end, Fowler averages 6.39 rebounds per game. Fowler has led the Chaps in the rebounding category for 15 games, including the prior four.
 
HITTING THE MARK
LCU has tallied a 46.5% field goal mark for the season with a majority of the points coming from inside the arc. The Chaps are riding a three-game win streak where they are averaging 53.8% from the floor and 38.4% from the three-point line. Since the beginning of the month, the Chaparrals have shot above 80% from the free throw line in five out of their six contests.
 
LEADING THE CHARGE
Ridrell Holman has been on a roll as of late. The senior has led the Chaps in scoring in five out of the last six contests, including the prior three games. Holman is averaging 16 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in the month of January. In his last outing against Oklahoma Christian, he was one rebound shy of a double-double with 16 points and nine boards.
 
Marcus Arrington has also provided a helping hand on the offensive end of the floor for the Chaps. Arrington leads LCU with 62 total assists and 3.4 assists per game.
 
AT HOME
Lubbock Christian has enjoyed a strong boost when playing at home this year. With a 5-3 home record, the Chaps have won by an average of 10.5 points inside Rip Griffin Center. In their eight home contests, LCU has averaged 81.8 points and 37.4 rebounds per game. The Chaparrals have outrebounded opponents by a 7.1 rebounding margin inside the Rip this year.
 
FIVE FACTS ABOUT DBU
- The reigning Heartland Conference Tournament Champions are off to a 12-6 record this season. After dropping their first conference game this of the season to the Chaps, DBU has since jumped to a 6-2 Heartland record.
- The Patriots rank first in the conference and seventh in the nation averaging 18.9 assists per game.
- Dallas Baptist is coming off of an offensive explosion against Randall University in a 121-69 victory. DBU's 121-point performance was their second highest scoring total in program history.
- The Patriots are riding a six-game winning streak that began in a 74-69 victory over Rogers State on Jan. 5.
- DBU boasts an extremely volatile offense this year as they are coming off of back-to-back 100+ point scoring performances. DBU has posted triple digit scores in three different games this season.
 
PRIOR MEETING WITH DBU
DALLAS, Texas (December 17, 2016) - Lubbock Christian University tipped off their Heartland Conference schedule coming back from a 13-point second half deficit and stealing a 65-58 victory over Dallas Baptist University at Burg Center in LCU's lowest scoring victory of the year.
 
Tyler Rogers proved to be the X-factor for the Chaps with 11 of his game-high and season-high 15 points coming within the last five minutes of the contest. Marcus Arrington was right behind Rogers with a season-high 14 points, team-high eight rebounds and four assists. Ridrell Holman added in 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting with six points coming from behind the arc. The Chaps proved once again that they are a strong second-half team, as they were held to 21 first half points before erupting for 44 second-half points. Lubbock Christian shot 13-of-17 (76.9%) from the free throw line.
 
Lubbock Christian had a slow start to the afternoon, allowing the Patriots to jump out to an early 18-8 lead six minutes into the game. A layup by Tyler Rogers and a three-pointer by Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath cut DBU's lead to five at the 10:40 mark of the first period. Brennen Fowler knocked down his first bucket of the game to cut the Chap's deficit to three points at 21-18 with 7:05 left in the half. The Patriots responded scoring eight of the final 11 points in the half to take a 29-21 lead at halftime.
 
The Chaps 21 first-half points were a feat that had not occurred since a 61-49 loss last season at Texas A&M International (12/17/15) in Laredo, Texas (ironically last season's Heartland Conference opener). Dallas Baptist shot 12-25 (48%) before the break with eight points coming from Patrick Burke. JT Harris grabbed five first half boards to give the Patriots a 20-9 rebounding advantage over the Chaparrals. As a team, Lubbock Christian shot 27.6% (8/29) from the field and 2-of-8 from behind the three-point line in the first half.
 
DBU picked up where they left off in the first half as Patrick Burke scored five unanswered points before a mid-range jumper from Arrington disrupted the Patriots rhythm. Burke's final bucket of the afternoon gave Dallas Baptist a 13-point lead at 36-23 (their largest lead of the game). A Fowler jumper sparked a 10-0 LCU run and cut DBU's lead to 36-33 with 16 minutes left to play. The Patriots were able to keep their distance from the Chaps until Ridrell Holman drained a jumper from downtown to give Lubbock Christian their first lead of the game, at 47-46, with 6:13 left to play. DBU stole the lead right back, however, with a bucket from Boy Van Vliet. The lead would change two more times until Tyler Rogers began his late game tirade, on a pair of free throws, to put Lubbock Christian up for the final time at 53-51. A layup by Arrington put the Chaparrals up 61-55 with 2:07 left in the contest. Although DBU remained persistent, it was Holman that put the nail in the coffin by splitting a pair of free throws to give LCU the 65-58 victory.
 
Lubbock Christian appeared to be a new team as they came out of the locker room after halftime. Rogers and Arrington each netted 13 points to push the Chaps to 15-of-24 (62.5%) shooting in the second half. The Chaps also had more success getting to the free throw line with 10-of-13 (76.9%) shooting from the charity stripe. Arrington picked up six of his nine rebounds after the break and helped LCU to an 18-10 rebounding edge. The Chaparrals also improved from behind the arc by going 4-of-6 from downtown in the second half. Marcos Schuster had two of LCU's second half three-pointers.
 
Dallas Baptist finished the second period shooting 3-of-14 (21.4%) behind the arc and 9-of-29 (31%) from the field. Patrick Burke led the Patriots and picked up three rebounds and seven of his 15 points after halftime.
 
Coming into the contest, Dallas Baptist forced their opponents into 19.4 turnovers per game. Lubbock Christian took care of the ball and limited themselves to just 11 turnovers, while forcing DBU into 17 turnovers. As a team, LCU snagged a season-high 11 steals. Of those 11 steals, Schuster and Jay Workman picked up three steals each. Dallas Baptist (4-5, 0-1) was still able to outrebound the Chaparrals 30-27 which marks just the second time this season that Lubbock Christian has been beaten on the boards (the first of was against Northwood University on Nov. 25). In both instances, the Chaps were still able to pull off the victory. The win over the Patriots marks the first time in head coach Todd Duncan's tenure at LCU that the Chaps were able to defeat the Patriots in Dallas (LCU's first win at DBU since joining Heartland Conference). LCU also moved to 2-2 all-time in Heartland Conference openers and are 1-1 against DBU in conference openers.