NEWMAN UNIVERSITY (8-15, 6-8 Heartland) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (14-10, 8-6 Heartland)
Thursday, February 16, 2017 – 8:00 PM
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm
TV: KJTV Fox 34 News Now
All-Time Series: Newman leads series 4-3
Tweet #LCUvsNU | Tweet #HeartlandMBB
 
HISTORY BETWEEN THE SQUADS
The meeting between Lubbock Christian University and Newman will be the second of the season and eighth time overall among the squads. The Chaps are on the losing side of a 4-3 series record following a tight 77-75 loss to the Jets on Jan. 30 of this year. LCU has lost the past three meetings against Newman.
 
A LOOK BACK AT THEIR LAST GAME
FORT SMITH, Ark. (February 11, 2017) – Lubbock Christian University closed out their regular season road schedule with a 93-76 loss at Arkansas Fort Smith, as the Lions produced 16 three-pointers in the Heartland Conference battle inside Stubblefield Center Saturday afternoon.
 
The 16 UAFS three-pointers were the most allowed by LCU since John Brown University, another Arkansas based institution, drained 18 three-pointers on Jan. 14, 2006. Seven different Lions connected on the long distance shots. UAFS opened the second half 8-of-9 from three-point range and finished with nine in the half.
 
LCU's bench played a huge role and scored 46 of the Chaps 76 points for the game. Freshman Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath led the Chaparrals with a career-high 20 points. Jay Workman also added in 14 points and six rebounds for LCU in the loss.
 
UA Fort Smith started the game with a hot-hand and jumped out to a 22-11 lead over the Chaps 10 minutes into the contest. Gilbreath proceeded to explode with seven straight LCU points to pull the Chaps within five-points of the Lions at 23-18. Following a Workman triple, Gilbreath converted a layup with 7:58 to play in the half closing the UAFS lead to 25-23. The Lions retaliated with a 14-4 run that was capped by an Alex Cooper layup, giving UA Fort Smith their largest lead of the half at 39-27. A three-pointer by Ognjen Vasiljevic closed out the half and gave the Lions a 46-38 lead going into the break.
 
The Chaps shot well in the first half, posting a 50% (13-of-26) field goal clip. Gilbreath led LCU with 13 points on 80% shooting (4-of-5) from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. UA Fort Smith edged out the Chaparrals on the glass 22-9 in the first period. Workman was perfect shooting 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 4-of-4 from the field for 10 first half points. Lubbock Christian made nine trips to the free throw line and converted on eight for an 88.9% free throw mark.
 
Alex Cooper dropped 14 first period points on a 66.7% (4-of-6) shooting average. UAFS shot 11-of-12 from the free throw line for a 91.7% mark. Fort Smith notched 21 points from long-range for a 46.7% three-point average.
 
Brett Jolly kicked off the second half with another three-pointer for the Lions. Lubbock Christian answered with an 11-2 run to close the UAFS lead to 51-49 five minutes into the half. That was the closest the Chaparrals would come, however, as Marcus Wallace sparked a 22-2 run for UAFS that consisted of six three-pointers. Although LCU attempted to close the Fort Smith lead, the Lions were able to keep the Chaps at bay and finish the game with a 93-76 victory.
 
Marcos Schuster stepped up in the second half for Lubbock Christian with 10 points on 80% (4-of-5) shooting. As a team, LCU shot 44% (11-of-25) from the field and 92.9% (13-for-14) from the free throw line. The Chaps forced the Lions into eight turnovers in the second period. Lubbock Christian posted a consistent offense by scoring 38 points in each half.
 
The Chaparrals could not keep up with the Lions explosive shooting performance. UAFS finished the contest shooting 57.1% (16-for-28) from the three-point line and they finished with more three-point field goals than to-point field goals (15). Devaunta Thomas had a game-high 21 points to boost the Lions to a 52.5% average from the floor. Alex Cooper (14 points), Marcus Wallace (13 points), Ladarius Coleman (12 points) and Seth Youngblood (12 points) joined Thomas in double-scoring figures.
 
Gilbreath's 20 points marked a career-high for the freshman and a team-high for the game. Jay Workman was next in line for LCU with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. Marcos Schuster and Brennen Fowler each added 12 points in the Chaps performance. The LCU bench exploded for 46 points for the afternoon. As a squad, the Chaparrals shot 47.1% (24-of-51) from the floor.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Chaparrals are closing out their regular season schedule with four consecutive games inside Rip Griffin Center. LCU is 8-3 at home this year and 4-1 at home in Heartland play. The Chaps are averaging 81.1 points per game while posting an 11.5 scoring margin over opponents inside the Rip in the 2016-17 campaign. Lubbock Christian has scored 70 points or more in 10-of-11 games for the season. They are 8-2 at home when scoring at least 70 points in a game.
 
FREE THROWS
LCU currently stands first in the conference, 12^th nationally, in the free throw percentage category. The Chaps have averaged 77.9% from the stripe this season. Lubbock Christian's offense has done well pressuring defenses and are getting to the free throw line 22.6 instances per game. Tyler Rogers leads the LCU squad with 77 made free throws on 92 attempts for an 83.7% mark. The Chaparrals are coming off of a season-high 91.3% free throw performance against UA Fort Smith (Feb. 11).
 
ON THE MONEY
Lubbock Christian has shot exceptionally well as of late and ranks second in the Heartland Conference with a 47.1% field goal average. The Chaps have shot above 50% in two of their last three games. Brennen Fowler has shot a stellar 64.3% from the field over the past five games.
 
PAINTING THE HEARTLAND
Lubbock Christian has done a majority of their damage from underneath the basket. In conference play, the Chaps are averaging 27.4 points per game from inside the paint and 23.4 defensive rebounds per game. LCU has posted 31.2 total rebounds per game against Heartland opponents. Brennen Fowler has led the charge with eight rebounds per contest on the season.
 
MR. ROGERS
Tyler Rogers has been a spark plug for the Lubbock Christian program this year. The Lubbock native has scored 910 career-points and is the only Chap on the active roster to break into the 900-point club. Rogers has 48 games of at least 10 point scored in his career with LCU. The senior is averaging 11.5 points per game for the season and 13.6 points per game in Heartland Conference contests.
 
FIVE FACTS ABOUT NU
- Newman ranks 15^th nationally with 451 total made free throws this season. The Jets also rank 23^rd in the nation with a 76.7% free throw average.
- NU stands first in the Heartland, 20^th nationally, averaging 10 three-pointers per game.
- Daniel Nwosu is second in the conference for total points scored (451).
- The Jets have posted triple-digits in five games this season. Of those five games, they have won four.
- Newman head coach Mark Potter is closing out his final coaching season of his career. Potter announced at the beginning of the year that he would be retiring after the season concludes.
 
PRIOR MEETING WITH NU
WICHITA, Kan. (January 30, 2017) – Despite a 21-point performance from Marcos Schuster, the Lubbock Christian University Chaparrals were unable to completely rally back from a 14-point second half deficit and had a four-game win streak snapped in a 77-75 loss to Newman University on Monday night in Heartland Conference competition inside Fugate Gymnasium.
 
Schuster posted a game-high 21 points in the game (9-for-10 from the free throw line), with 15 points coming in the second half. Brennen Fowler (14-points) and Tyler Rogers (13-points) were the only other Chaps in double figures offensively.
 
Isaac Cardona scored five of LCU's first seven-points to keep the Chaps within a one-point range of Newman at the 14:23 mark. The Jets then widened the gap on Lubbock Christian by scoring seven unanswered points to take a 15-7 advantage. It was part of a 15-4 run, which followed a 3-0 LCU lead in the game's ugly start. The teams combined to open the game 1-of-13 from the field (LCU was 1-of-7) before the 15-4 run. The Chaps attempted to close the gap, when trailing 15-7, but they were unable to get closer than three-points for the rest of the half. The Jets scored six of the final nine points of the period to take a 40-32 lead at the break.
 
Brennen Fowler led the Chaps in the first period with eight-points on 66.7% (4-of-6) shooting from the floor. Although LCU was able to capture a 41.9% field goal mark in the half, they were rather cold from the three-point line. The Chaparrals were 23.1% (3-of-13) from downtown. LCU was unable to get to the charity stripe in the half as well. Schuster, Cardona and Ridrell Holman each knocked down a free throw to limp the Chaps to a 42.9% (3-for-7) average from the stripe. Each squad was also handed a technical foul in the opening period. Newman's head coach (Mark Potter) was T'd up with 6:27 left in the period, while LCU head coach Todd Duncan received his with 19-seconds to play in the half.
 
Daniel Nwosu had a team leading 11-points in the first half on 3-for-4 shooting from downtown and an 80% (4-of-5) average from the field. Newman shot 48.1% from the field in the half and an impressive 53.8% (7-of-13) from behind the arc. Like the Chaps, the Jets were only sent to the free throw line a total of seven times in the period. However, unlike LCU, Newman was able to knock down all seven of their attempts from the charity line.
 
Newman wasted no time jumping out to a 14-point lead, 49-35, just four minutes into the second period. The Chaps were unable to close ground on the Jets until Schuster rattled in a pair of free throws to cut the Newman lead to three, 59-56 with 7:30 left to play. Newman responded with seven of the next nine points, capped by a trey from Christian Deyoung to push the Jets to a 66-58 advantage. Newman's Taylor Schieber knocked down a pair of free throws to keep the Chaps at an eight-point deficit, 73-65, with 1:20 left in the ball game. LCU was able to close in on the Jets with a triple from Schuster to put the score at 75-72 in favor of Newman with 11-seconds to play. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Chaps would get until a last second three-pointer by Lubbock Christian's Jay Workman dropped the Chaparral's deficit to two-points. Unfortunately, Workman's effort was not enough as the Jets were able to hang on for the 77-75 victory over the Chaps.
 
Schuster and Rogers woke up and combined for 26 of LCU's 43 second half points. Schuster's 15 points came on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor and 8-for-8 shooting from the free throw line. Tyler Rogers was perfect as well from the free throw stripe by nailing all four of his attempts. Rogers also shot 42.8% (3-of-7) from the field in the half. In total, LCU knocked down a 45.8% (11-of-24) mark from the field while shooting 94.4% (17-for-18) from the free throw stripe in the second period.
 
Taylor Schieber unleashed in the final half by dropping 17-points on 60% (3-of-5) shooting from downtown and 71.4% (5-of-7) shooting from the field. Schieber also added four free throws on seven attempts in the period. The Jets scored 37 second half points in the shooting 47.8% from the field and 66.7% (10-for-15) from the stripe. Schieber (20-points), Nwosu (17-points) and Kevin Bryant (10-points) were the only Jets players to finish the game in double-scoring figures. The Jets closed out the contest shooting 48% (24-of-50) from the field and 44.4% (12-of-27) behind three-point range.
 
Senior Ridrell Holman led Lubbock Christian's effort on the boards with a career-high 10 rebounds. In total, LCU posted a 43.6% shooting average for the game and a 36.8% effort from behind the three-point line. Schuster shot a total of 9-for-10 from the stripe and helped push the Chaps to an 80% (20-for-25) free throw average for the night.