LUBBOCK, Texas (February 25, 2017) – Lubbock Christian University, setting a program and Heartland Conference record from the free-throw line, tied a bow on their regular season finale with a 91-80 win over St. Edward's University Saturday afternoon inside Rip Griffin Center. Marcos Schuster led LCU with a game-high 19 points on 58.3% shooting (7-of-12) and five three-pointers. The victory also served as Senior Day for Lubbock Christian where the Chaps honored five seniors.
 
St. Edward's struck first and jumped out to a 7-3 lead early in the contest. LCU marched back on the shoulders of Isaac Cardona and Marcus Arrington who combined for the Chap's first 15 points of the afternoon to put Lubbock Christian up 15-7 with at the 12:56 mark. SEU's Ramir Burton drained a couple of free throws to close LCU's lead to 13 points. However, Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath knocked down a three-pointer to spark a 9-3 run for the Chaparrals. Sean Watkins nailed a triple with 39-seconds left in the period narrowing the Chap lead. But Schuster stepped up and drilled a last-second triple of his own to give LCU a 47-31 lead heading into the locker room.
 
The Chaps were on fire in the first half shooting 60% (18-of-30) from the field and 7-for-10 from downtown. Marcus Arrington was perfect from beyond the arc netting four treys for 12 points, four rebounds and four assists in the half. Schuster shot 66.7% (4-of-6) for 10 points in 13 minutes played. Tyler Rogers, Ridrell Holman and Brennen Fowler each grabbed five rebounds to push the Chaparrals to a 22-15 advantage over the Hilltoppers on the boards. LCU went on a 21-0 run in the period, which was part of an overall 26-4 scoring surge for LCU, as SEU went 7:49 without a field goal.
 
The Hilltoppers were held to 26.5% (9-of-34) from the field in the opening period. Fifteen of their 34 points, in the half, were scored from behind the arc. Sean Watkins led SEU with nine points on 2-of-4 shooting and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
 
LCU opened up the second half on an 11-4 run capped by a three-pointer from Marcos Schuster. He kept his hand warm and nailed another triple at the 15:44 mark, giving the Chaps a 24-point lead at 63-39, for their largest lead of the game. St. Edward's cut the LCU lead down to 65-49, but another three-point dagger from Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath extended Lubbock Christian's lead back to 20-points at 77-57 with just over seven-minutes remaining. The Hilltoppers connected on four straight three-point jumpers and eventually scored 13 unanswered points to cut the LCU lead to 79-70. The Chaps scored their final 12 points of the contest from the free throw line to grab the 91-80 victory over St. Edward's.
 
Brennen Fowler was LCU's second half hero scoring 10 points. The Chaparrals continued their attack from long-range and netted 6-of-9 from behind the three-point line for a 66.7% mark in the second half. Only three of Lubbock Christian's second-half field goals were converted from inside the arc.
 
The Chaps set a program-high 100% mark from the free throw line scoring on all 24 of their attempts from the stripe. The 24-for-24 from the line set a Heartland Conference single-game record and it's the second best mark in NCAA Division II play this season behind Florida Tech, who was 28-of-28 from the line in a contest this season. LCU's bench came up huge with 52 of the Chaps 91 points for the game. Lubbock Christian finished the afternoon shooting 54% (27-of-50) from the field and 68.4% (13-for-19) from downtown. There were five Chaps in double-scoring figures. Schuster led the way with 19 points. Arrington and Fowler each posted 16 points, Gilbreath accounted for 15 points and Rogers put up 13 points of his own.
 
The win over St. Edward's concludes regular season play for Lubbock Christian and brings the Chaps to an 18-10 overall record and a 12-6 record in conference play. The Chaparrals, who closed the home slate going 12-3, will now head to Tulsa, Okla. as the No. 5-seed in the Heartland Conference Tournament. They will tip off with Rogers State University on Friday March 3 at 7:30 p.m. LCU finished their conference schedule in fourth place and one win off of a trio of teams that finished tied for first place with a 13-5 mark.