CAMERON UNIVERSITY (4-6) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (3-7)
Saturday, December 16 - 3:00 PM
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
All-Time Series: Cameron leads 10-2



 
THE CLIMB
Lubbock Christian University has the opportunity to climb their way out of some difficult early season woes this Saturday against Cameron University. The Chaps host the Aggies inside Rip Griffin Center for their fourth home game of the season and their second against a division II opponent. Heading into the weekend, LCU finds themselves with a 3-7 overall record, their worst start through the first 10 games since head coach Todd Duncan took the reins in the 2011-2012 season. It comes with justification, as Lubbock Christian's schedule has been riddled with talent featuring five nationally ranked foes and eight squads that were previously unbeaten before the Chap's meeting with them. LCU's schedule ranks as the most difficult in NCAA Division II with their previous opponents combining for a 49-5 record so far this season.

SATURDAY REWIND
CANYON, Texas (December 9, 2017) – Lubbock Christian University fell to their fifth nationally ranked opponent Saturday night with an 82-72 loss in Canyon, Texas to No. 8/9 West Texas A&M University. Brennen Fowler had a monster performance to lead the Chaps with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Stephen Lennox also threw down a double-double going for 19 points and 12 rebounds of his own.
 
LCU jumped out to a hot start scoring 11 unanswered points to open up the first period. Despite falling back early, West Texas A&M responded with a 12-4 run that tied the ballgame at 15-15. A layup by Lennox returned the lead to Lubbock Christian, but the advantage was short-lived. David Chavlovich knocked down a three-pointer six seconds later to give the Buffs their first lead of the night at 18-17. WTAMU then scored nine straight points to extend their lead to a 10-point margin with 5:51 left to play in the period. Lennox scored five of the Chap's final eight points of the half, but the Buffs closed out the period shooting 13-of-18 from the field on their way to a 36-25 lead at the break.
 
Lennox was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field leading the Chaparrals with nine points in the period. Fowler added in seven points and six boards to push LCU to a 17-13 rebounding advantage over the Buffs. Lubbock Christian knocked down 11-of-25 field goals for a 44% first half shooting, but committed 10 turnovers that allowed West Texas A&M to convert 12 points.
 
Despite opening up the night 0-for-8 from the floor, the Buffs stormed back to finish the half shooting 13-for-26 from the field. Ryan Quaid claimed all five of WTAMU's free throws in the half to lead the Buffaloes with 12 points. The West Texas A&M squad also posted a 50% mark from beyond the arc to open up the evening.
 
Fowler kicked off the second half on a tear, scoring the Chap's first six points. David Chavlovich was able to find his rhythm and proceeded to score 13 of the Buff's next 15 points over a 1:41 stretch to extend WTAMU's lead to 54-45. Lennox responded with back-to-back buckets inside the paint sparking a 12-3 run for LCU. Fowler capped off the Chaparral run with a layup to tie the game at 57-57 with 8:48 remaining. Chavlovich converted a layup of his own to regain the lead for the Buffs. Fowler, not to be outdone, came down the floor and knocked down his second three-pointer of the season giving Lubbock Christian a 60-59 lead. Two minutes later, Gaige Prim knocked down a jumper for West Texas A&M handing the Buffaloes their final lead change of the evening. WTAMU scored 17 of the game's final 26 points to finish off Lubbock Christian 82-72.
 
LCU opened up the second period shooting 12-of-17 from the floor, but closed out the half with a 4-of-10 field goal mark. Fowler logged 23 points in the final period while Lennox and Isaac Asrat added in 10 points each.
 
Chavlovich carried the Buffs in the second half scoring 23 of their 46 points in the period. The WTAMU senior shot 9-of-11 to push the Buffaloes to a 51.5% (17-of-33) second period shooting average.
 
The Chaps finished the contest shooting 51.9% (27-of-52) from the field marking their fourth contest of the season with a field goal average of 50% or higher. Fowler and Lennox each registered season high scoring performances. Asrat was the final Lubbock Christian player in double-scoring figures with 12 points. West Texas A&M entered the contest shooting 36.7% from three-point range, but registered 10 triples against the Chaps for a 52.6% average from beyond the arc. All 72 of LCU's points came from their starting five as the Buff's bench outscored the Chaparral bench 20-0. West Texas A&M registered one steal, but were still able to outscore Lubbock Christian 15-2 in points off of turnovers.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Chaparrals are looking to rebound after a loss to West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas last Saturday. In the contest, Lubbock Christian managed to score all 72 of their points  from their starting five. Juniors Brennen Fowler and Stephen Lennox provided the one-two punch for the Chaps each capturing double-double performances. Fowler threw down six blocks, 11 rebounds and a season-high 30 points. Lennox marked a career-best outing with 19 points and 12 boards. The duo's presence in the paint gives LCU an edge around the rim as they have already combined for 136 rebounds on the season.
 
DEFENSE
Despite their seven losses, LCU's defense has been ever present this season. The Chaps have ripped 46 steals, pulled down 276 defensive rebounds and knocked away 37 blocks this season. Fowler's defensive play has been a constant for Lubbock Christian as he leads the roster with 22 blocks, eight steals and 63 defensive rebounds (85 rebounds in total).
 
DEEP-RANGE
The Chaps have kept their opponents honest throughout their first 10 contests with their ability to shoot the three-ball. LCU has knocked down 73 triples for a 40.1% shooting average from beyond the arc. Isaac Asrat leads the Chaparral roster with a stellar 39 three-point field goals made and a 52.7% mark from downtown. Asrat ranks eighth in the nation for three-pointers made and ninth nationally for three-point field goals per game (3.9).
 
CU FACTS
- The Aggies head into Saturday's tilt ranked seventh in the hyper-competitive Lone Star Conference.
- Cameron is riding a two-game losing streak, which began with a 63-59 defeat at the hands of Texas A&M – Kingsville University (Dec. 7). Most recently, the Aggies dropped an 81-58 result on the road to Angelo State University (Dec. 9) where they posted a season low 29% (20-of-69) shooting performance.
- Bryce Elie has come off the bench in seven contests to lead CU with 12.3 points per game this season. Elie is averaging 20.9 minutes per contest and also leads the Cameron roster with four blocks.
- Cameron's offense has been paced through JV Long, who has dished out 4.0 assists per game and 40 total assists on the year.
- The Aggie squad is 1-5 on the road this season and has averaged 73.3 points per game when playing as the away team.

RIVALRY AGAINST CU
Though Lubbock Christian and Cameron University have met a total of 12 times throughout the history of their rivalry, the series was rekindled last season. The squads first met in the 1972-1973 season, where Cameron pulled a 78-61 victory. That opening success for the Aggies sparked a nine-game winning streak for CU. Both of LCU's victories came back-to-back in the 1995 season, where they swung a 68-65 (Jan. 23, 1995) victory and an offensively charged 101-94 (Feb. 21, 1995) result less than a month later. Following Lubbock Christian's triple-digit performance, the series went on a 21-year drought before being brought back to life last season. Todd Duncan took his Chap squad up to Lawton, Okla. last season, for the most recent meeting of the series, only to fall 79-76 on a last second half-court heave by Cameron's Tyler Williams (Dec. 10, 2016). The Aggies hold a 10-2 lead over Lubbock Christian in the all-time series.

PRIOR MEETING WITH CU
LAWTON, Okla. (December 10, 2016) - Lubbock Christian University was sent home in shocking fashion, as a half court buzzer beater by Cameron's Tyler Williams gave the Aggies a 79-76 victory over the Chaparrals Saturday inside Aggie Gym. Williams' shot capped a 14-2 Aggies run, as LCU was up 74-65 with 1:17 remaining.
 
A layup by LCU's Michael Grant widened the Chaparral lead to 10 points, 68-58, with 2:38 left in the contest. The last 2:30 is where Cameron picked up the pace and rattled off a 19-6 run on the Chaps. Chuck Kendley tallied LCU's final field goal, putting the Chaps up 74-65 with 1:26 to go. Part of the 19-6 run to end the game was a 14-2 run in the final 1:16, beginning with a Trey Hall three-pointer with 1:16 left. Cameron took advantage of a pair of LCU turnovers with three straight points from the free-throw line, and then received a team rebound off a free-throw miss to setup a JV Long field goal to cut LCU's lead to 74-73 with 46 seconds left. Marcos Schuster extended the lead back to three (76-73) with a pair of made free throws with 45 seconds remaining. Hall tied the game at 76-76 by nailing a second three-pointer in the 14-2 run, with enough time to produce a two-second differential between the game clock and shot clock on the ensuing LCU inbound. Schuster put up an unsuccessful runner with under three seconds remaining and Williams took the rebound, transitioned and not only got the shot off at the horn, but avoided a charge as he crashed into LCU's Isaac Cardona during the shot.
 
The game opened with Brennen Fowler winning the tip and scoring the first bucket for LCU on a layup. The Chaps opened the game on a 7-0 run before the Aggies JV Long drained a pair of free throws to cut the score to 7-2 at the 17:26 mark of the first half. Long's bucket woke up an Aggies offense that went on a 15-7 run for a 17-14 lead. The three-point lead would be Cameron's largest lead of the half. Freshman Chuck Kendley provided a spark for LCU, as he closed out the half matching a season-high 10 points. Ridrell Holman netted a three-pointer to guide the Chaps to the halftime break with a 37-31 lead.
 
Lubbock Christian closed out the first half shooting 48% (12-25) from the field. Marcos Schuster and Kendley each grabbed five boards to lead LCU, as the Chaps outrebounded the Aggies 22-15 in the half. Kendley also led the Chaparrals with a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. As a squad, Lubbock Christian shot 11-15 (73.3%) from the charity stripe in the half. Cameron was blanked from three-point range in the first half with 0-of-8 shooting. Delvonte Pierre led the Aggies with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting  from the field.
 
To start the second half, LCU opened up their halftime lead to nine points on a three-pointer from Jay Workman just two minutes in the second period. However, Cameron remained persistent and eventually took their first lead of the half, 53-52, after a three pointer by Williams. Kendley continued his success and quickly gave the Chaps their lead back with a layup and a free throw with 8:38 left to play. A layup by LCU's Michael Grant widened the Chaparral lead to 10 points, 68-58, with 2:38 left in the contest. The last 2:30 is where Cameron picked up the pace and rattled off a 19-6 run on the Chaps, ultimately hitting a half court heave to give the Aggies a 79-76 win.
 
Cameron came out in a rhythm in the second half, as four different Aggies scored 15 points. Hall picked up all 15 of his points after halftime. LCU outrebounded the Aggies 43-30, but Cameron's three-point game provided the boost for their comeback victory. Hall's four three-pointers pushed the Aggies to 6-of-21 from behind the arc. Holman and Workman each knocked down a pair of three-pointers and accounted for all of LCU's points from downtown. Lubbock Christian was haunted with turnovers, as they committed 18 for the game. As a team, LCU finished the night shooting 26-56 (46.4%) from the field and 20-27 (74.1%) from the free throw line. The Cameron victory was their sixth of the season over a Heartland Conference opponent.
 
LCU's Chuck Kendley led all scorers for a career-high 19 points on 6-7 shooting and 7-7 from the free throw line. Kendley also grabbed 10 rebounds to pick up his first career double-double. He was one of five Chaps in double figures, as he was joined by Workman (12 points), Schuster (10 points), Holman (10 points) and Tyler Rogers (10 points). The ending marked the second time in the past three games in which the opposition hit a shot beyond half court at the end of regulation. In Puerto Rico, Northwood (Mich.) forced overtime with a desperation attempt, but LCU was able to recover with the overtime victory.