LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (2-4) vs. ANGELO STATE UNIVERSITY (6-0)
Saturday, November 25 - 7:30 PM
Junell Center (San Angelo, Texas)
All-Time Series: Angelo State leads series 19-5
Tweet #LCUvsASU


 
THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
Lubbock Christian University will close out their play at the Angelo State University Thanksgiving Classic Saturday night against host Angelo State. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. inside ASU's Junell Center. Lubbock Christian has played three games this season in a crossover style event (games against in-region opponents from other conferences) and have gone 0-3 in those games.

LAST GAME RECAP
Lubbock Christian University dropped their fourth road game of the year following a 68-62 loss to Texas A&M University – Commerce Friday evening. Four Chaps registered double-scoring figures in the contest, which featured a combined 53 fouls between the two teams. Junior Isaac Asrat led the Chaparrals with 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the floor. Brennen Fowler also put up an impressive performance recording a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
 
The night got off on the wrong foot for Lubbock Christian, as Texas A&M-Commerce capitalized on a turnover by Marcos Schuster in the opening minute of play to take a 2-0 lead. Fowler gave the Chaps their only lead change of the game with back-to-back buckets from inside the paint. The LCU lead was short-lived, as the Lions responded with a 14-0 run to pull away from the Chaps over a three-minute stretch. Kentton Williams split a pair of free throws with 11:52 left in the half to pull LCU within four-points, but that was as close as the Chaparrals would come for the remainder of the period. Asrat recorded the final basket of the opening half on a triple with seven seconds on the clock to cut their deficit to 40-32 heading into the half.
 
Fowler was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, recording nine points and six rebounds in the half. As a team, the Chaps tallied a 40.9% shooting mark on 9-of-22 from the field. LCU was saved by their performance from the free throw line going 13-of-17 (76.5%) from the stripe. Lubbock Christian's 11 turnovers in the half allowed TAMUC to convert 14 points.
 
Willie Rooks led the Lions with an 11-point performance in the opening half to push Texas A&M-Commerce to a 13-for-26 team shooting mark. The Lions also enjoyed success from the free throw line only missing on one attempt for a 90% (9-of-10) performance.
 
Asrat opened up the second half scoring with a jumper inside the paint 32 seconds in. LCU proceeded to go on a scoring drought that spanned nearly three minutes. Each team tallied eight points within the first 7:12 of the half, where TAMUC jumped to a 48-40 lead. Asrat knocked down a three-pointer with 8:50 on the clock to pull the Chaps within six points of the Lions, but Texas A&M-Commerce responded with an 8-3 run to take an 11-point advantage (their largest of the half with 5:41 to play). Schuster converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to pull the Chaparrals within five-points of the Lions with 2:24 remaining. It would be as close as LCU would come for the rest of the game, as Texas A&M-Commerce kept their distance converting five of their last six free throws to take the 68-62 victory over the Chaps.
 
Asrat bookended the second period with the first and final baskets on his way to 12 points in the half on 5-of-10 shooting. Schuster added in seven points  in the half with all of his field goals coming from within two-point range. Fowler pulled down eight rebounds in the period, seven of which came on the defensive end of the floor.
 
Lubbock Christian combined for 28 of their 62 points from inside the paint. Their 20-for-52 (38.5%) shooting performance marked a season-low for the squad. The Chaps were also plagued with foul trouble as each of their starters finished the night with four personal fouls each. Asrat (19 points) led LCU in the scoring column for the fourth consecutive game. Fowler accounted for 14 of Lubbock Christian's 36 rebounds, to complete his first double-double of the year. The Chaparrals out-performed the Lions on the glass by a 36-34 margin.

DOUBLE DOWN
Brennen Fowler marked his first and the LCU program's first double-double of the season Friday night against Texas A&M University-Commerce. The junior shot 5-for-10 from the field for 11 points and pulled down 14 of the Chap's 36 rebounds for the game. Fowler's performance against the Lions marks the 17^th double-double of his career and the first since a 64-60 loss to Rogers State in Claremore, Okla. last season (Feb. 9).
 
FOUR OF FOUR 
Lubbock Christian has had a particularly long week, as their tilt with Angelo State will mark their fourth game within six days. For the week, the Chaps are 2-1 but have yet to pull off a win this season against an NCAA Division II opponent. Three LCU players have played 90 minutes or more throughout the week, while averaging over 30 minutes per game.

THREE-BALL
LCU has stayed in games with their deep-ball threat. Junior Isaac Asrat has launched 48 three-pointers, while connecting on 27 for a 56.3% mark from behind the arc. Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath has also played a role in the Chaparral's three-ball game, knocking down a 50% mark on 11-of-22 shooting from downtown. Their efforts have helped push the Chap squad to an eighth-place national ranking for three-point field goal percentage (44.1%) for the season.

ANGELO STATE FACTS
- Angelo State is off to a perfect 6-0 start this season, three of which have come at home inside Junell Center.
- The Rams have made their way to the Lone Star Conference Championship for the past three consecutive seasons. In two of those three seasons, ASU has managed to make it three rounds deep into the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament.
- Ja'Michael Brown has led the Rams averaging 14.7 points per game on 52.4% field goal shooting. The junior also leads the ASU squad with 27 assists this season.
- All five of Angelo State's starters are averaging double-scoring figures, pushing the team to an impressive 90.7 points per game. ASU's scoring offense ranks eighth nationally.
- James Kirksey leads the Rams with 12 steals this season. As a team, Angelo State ranks 10^th in the nation forcing 19.8 turnovers per contest. They rank 12^th nationally for their turnover margin which stands at 7 for the year.

RIVALRY AGAINST ANGELO STATE
LCU's meeting against the Rams will mark the 25^th all-time in the rivalry. Their last tilt came in the 2015-2016 season with Angelo State ranked No. 5. In that contest, Lubbock Christian pushed the Rams into an overtime period where ASU was able to squeak by with a 70-68 win inside Rip Griffin Center (Dec. 10, 2015). Angelo State holds a 19-5 record over the Chaparrals in the all-time series.

PRIOR MEETING WITH ANGELO STATE
LUBBOCK, Texas (December 10, 2015) – Six straight points by A.J. Luckey in the final two minutes of regulation forced overtime between the Chaps and fifth-ranked Angelo State, but Luckey's final attempt was off the mark and unable to force a second extra period in the final seconds against the Rams Thursday night inside the Rip Griffin Center. LCU held ASU to nearly 30 points below their scoring average but eventually dropped the 70-68 decision despite Tyler Rogers and Marcus Arrington tying their season highs with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
 
Tonight's contest marked the fourth time the Chaps have faced an NCAA Division II nationally ranked opponent since beginning the transition from the NAIA. In addition to today's loss, LCU has twice been defeated by Tarleton State when the Texans were ranked second and 12^th in the country and most recently lost to 10^th-ranked Colorado School of Mines.
 
LCU (6-2) and ASU (9-0) each shot an identical 25-of-64 from the field, but the Rams hit seven threes compared to two from the Chaps. LCU struggled from the line, hitting 16-of-24, while the Rams hit 13 of their 16 attempts. Ridrell Holman notched double-figures with a dozen points and Luckey added 11. Isaac Cardona struggled from the floor on 2-of-16 shooting but totaled a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
After holding the Rams to 17 first half points, ASU opened up after the break with a 12-3 run in four minutes to knot the game at 33-33. The Rams took their first lead of the night on a bucket by Stedman Allen within the next four minutes and he then scored two jumpers to put his team up 46-41. A three-pointer by Holman and a basket by Arrington tied the score at 46-all. Two free throws by Rogers and a score by Holman gave the Chaps a 50-46 lead, but Allen again stung the Chaps by scoring six straight points and teammate Tre Bennett hit a three to extend ASU's lead to 57-50 with 3:24 on the clock.
 
Luckey hit one-of-two at the line and Rogers grabbed an offensive board and threw down a putback to close within 57-53 with 2:30 remaining. ASU's Omari Gudul connected on a jumper before Luckey went on his six-point tear to force overtime.
 
The number five ranking by ASU did not intimidate the Chaps or Arrington in the early going, as the point guard made his way into the paint with a scoop layup while drawing a foul. Holman nailed a three-pointer from the right baseline for a 6-2 advantage, and a fast break dunk by Rogers upped the margin to 8-2. Another Arrington bucket in the paint gave the Chaps a 14-7 edge seven minutes in, and a baseline jumper by Rogers pushed LCU out to a nine-point lead.
 
A pair of free throws by Cardona provided the Chaps with their first double-digit lead of the evening at 28-17 with less than two minutes remaining until the half. Back-to-back scores by ASU's Prince Foster sliced the gap to 28-21 before Arrington corralled an offensive board and hit a putback while falling to the ground during the final seconds before the buzzer.