OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (8-16, 3-13) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (16-10, 10-6)
Thursday February 23, 2017 – 8:00 PM
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: AM950/100.7FM
Television: KJTV Fox 34 News Now
All-Time Series: OC leads 37-24
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HISTORY BETWEEN THE SQUADS
Lubbock Christian University will take on Oklahoma Christian University for the second time this year in a Thursday night showdown. The Chaps won the prior meeting 75-72 on Jan. 21 in Oklahoma City and are looking to close out the sweep over the Eagles. LCU has won six of the last seven meetings and has only lost once since joining the Heartland Conference in the 2013-14 season.
A LOOK BACK AT THEIR LAST GAME
LUBBOCK, Texas (February 18, 2017) – Lubbock Christian University hammered home their second straight win at Rip Griffin Center Saturday afternoon with a 92-66 Heartland Conference rout over Oklahoma Panhandle State University. The victory over the Aggies featured three Chaparrals in double figures and their second contest in a row shooting over 50% as a team.
Brennen Fowler and
Marcos Schuster tucked away 16 points each to lead LCU in scoring for the day.
Lubbock Christian jumped on top of OPSU early in the game with an 18-6 run to start the game. Jace Kerr was fouled while shooting a three-pointer and subsequently drained all three of his free throws to slow down the Chaparral momentum.
Isaac Cardona sparked an 18-4 scoring run for the Chaps that was capped by a layup from Fowler with 7:41 left in the half.
Marcus Arrington drilled a pair of free throws with less than two minutes to play in the period to put the Chaps up by 24 points at 48-24. OPSU's Sita Sesay tucked away a jumper with 27 seconds remaining to bring the LCU lead to 49-28 heading into halftime.
The Chaparrals had a dominant opening period shooting 60.6% (20-of-33) from the field.
Brennen Fowler shot 62.5% (5-of-8) on his own to capture 12 first half points. Fowler also snagged five rebounds on the defensive end of the floor.
Isaac Cardona was a perfect 4-for-4 from inside the arc for eight points in the opening period. LCU forced the Aggies into nine turnovers and 16.7% (1-for-6) from three-point range. The Chaps beat down the Aggies in the paint by a 32-12 margin in the period. In addition to an 18-0 advantage in bench points, Lubbock Christian also converted 15 points off of turnovers.
Tevin Lytes led OPSU in the first half with 11 points on 71.4% (5-of-7) shooting. As a squad, the Aggies were 42.3% (11-of-26) from the floor. Oklahoma Panhandle State grabbed 11 rebounds in the half, all of which were on their defensive end of the court.
OPSU's Sita Sesay scored the first bucket of the second period to cut the LCU lead to 19 points, but that would be as close as the Aggies would come for the rest of the contest.
Tyler Rogers threw down a thunderous dunk with 12:25 left in the game to extend the Chap lead to 67-35. With just less than five minutes to play, Lubbock Christian's
Chuck Kendley split a pair of free throws giving the Chaps a 35 point lead, their largest of the game, at 88-53. OPSU's Jaedon Whitfield sunk a three-pointer with six seconds left to play, but the damage was already done. The Chaparrals sent the Aggies packing and closed out the afternoon with a 92-66 victory.
Schuster led LCU with 11 points in the second half on 4-of-5 shooting. Three of Schuster's four buckets came from behind the three-point line to push the Chaps to a 5-for-10 mark from behind the arc in the period. Lubbock Christian forced the Aggies into ten more turnovers in the second half. As a squad, LCU posted a 44.1% (15-of-34) mark from the floor.
OPSU tallied a 57.7% average from the field and 41.7% from three-point range. Chandler Bryer stepped up with 11-second half points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Lubbock Christian closed the afternoon shooting 52.2% (35-of-67) for the game.
Marcos Schuster finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead the Chap squad.
Brennen Fowler was right behind him with 16 points and six boards. Freshman
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath added in 12 points and five rebounds. As a team, LCU shot 76.2% (16-for-21) from the free throw line.
COACH DUNCAN
LCU has the opportunity to grab head coach
Todd Duncan's 100th career victory with a win over the Eagles. Coach Duncan is currently in his sixth season at the helm of the Chaparral squad and has never had a season average below .500 since taking over. Duncan has won at least 10 conference contests in every season since joining the Heartland.
A HELPING HAND
Marcus Arrington has been a staple to the Lubbock Christian offense since joining the squad. Arrington has been known to dish out the rock and has even tallied 370 total assists so far in his collegiate career. After dealing four assists against Oklahoma Panhandle State, Arrington moved up in the Heartland Conference record book to fifth all-time in the assist category. He is averaging 3.8 assists per game and has 98 assists on the season. Arrington needs just five more assists to overtake the fourth place all-time spot and 14 to be come third in the conference books.
HEARTLAND HOME STRETCH
Lubbock Christian is a stellar 6-1 at home this season in conference play. The Chaps have lost one conference contest inside Rip Griffin Center since Jan. 15, 2015 following a loss to Rogers State. LCU is scoring 81.8 points per game at home this year, while holding opponents to just 69.8 points per contest.
BATTLE OF THE BIG MEN
The Chaparral's contest against the Eagles will be especially interesting with both squad's presence inside the paint. John Moon (218) of Oklahoma Christian and LCU's
Brennen Fowler (201) are first and second, respectively, in the Heartland in total rebounding. Fowler leads LCU in points per game with a 13.3 average in addition to his 7.7 rebounds per game. The Smyer native also holds a 56.6% field goal mark for the year.
Isaac Cardona, Lubbock Christian's other big man, is averaging 51.7% from the field for the season. Cardona is also just six points away from reaching 900 career points.
FEBRUARY
Lubbock Christian has had a successful month going 4-2 and winning by an average margin of 7.5 points per game in February.
Ridrell Holman has led the Chaps in the month by scoring 15 points per game and shooting 47.1% (16-of-34) from downtown.
Tyler Rogers (14.5) and
Brennen Fowler (13.5) are the only other Chaparrals averaging double-scoring figures for February. Fowler has shot 65.5% from the field for the month. Rogers has been consistent from the free-throw line shooting 90% (18-for-20) from the charity stripe over the past six games.
FIVE FACTS ABOUT OC
- The Eagle squad ranks first in the conference with 3.8 blocks per game. On his own, John Moon ranks first in the conference, eighth nationally, in the category with 2.96 blocks per game.
- OC is riding a five game losing streak with three of those losses coming on the road.
- Oklahoma Christian has picked up six of their eight victories for the year at home. Only one of their three Heartland wins came on the road.
- Senior John Moon has grabbed 218 rebounds for the year. The OC squad has snagged a total of 888 rebounds for the season, which means that Moon has grabbed 24.5% of the Eagles boards for the 2016-17 campaign.
- The Eagle squad is averaging a 44.9% field goal mark for this season.
PRIOR MEETING WITH OC
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.
