ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY (8-14, 5-7) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (13-8, 7-4 Heartland)
Saturday, February 4, 2017 – 3:00 PM
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: St. Mary's leads series 5-4
Tweet #LCUvsStMU | Tweet #HeartlandMBB
 
HISTORY BETWEEN THE SQUADS
Lubbock Christian University will take on St. Mary's University for the 10^th time since the beginning of their rivalry. The Chaps last met the Rattlers earlier this season in a New Years Eve tilt, where StMU upset LCU 70-55. In total, the Rattlers hold a 5-4 series edge over the Chaparrals.
 
A LOOK BACK AT THEIR LAST GAME
Lubbock Christian hopped back to their winning ways Thursday night in an 84-55 victory over Texas A&M International inside Rip Griffin Center. Senior Ridrell Holman exploded for a career-high 29 points while Tyler Rogers added a season-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. The Heartland Conference contest was part of the NCAA Division II's Basketball Showcase, with the game televised nationally on American Sports Network.
 
LCU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after Ridrell Holman knocked down his first three-pointer of the evening. TAMIU came racing back and eventually took an 18-13 lead on a trey by Kenny Hatch with 10:30 left in the half. Marcus Arrington responded for LCU by kicking off a 24-4 scoring run for the Chaps. The scoring flurry was highlighted by 12 points from Holman and a strong Chaparral defense, which put the Dustdevils in a four-minute scoring drought. TAMIU's final basket of the half came at the 3:05 mark. Brennen Fowler knocked down a pair of free throws with one-minute left to push the Chap to a 37-24 lead at the break.
 
Lubbock Christian's defense was air-tight in the opening period. They forced the Dustdevils into 36% (9-of-25) shooting from the floor and just two free throw attempts. Holman's hot-hand propelled LCU to 57.1% (4-of-7) from three-point land and 45% (9-of-20) from the field. The Chaps got to the free throw line a total of 18 times in the half and converted on 15 for an 83.3% mark. Holman was a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc and 71.4% (5-of-7) from the floor for 17 first half points.
 
Kenny Hatch kept the Dustdevils in the contest by throwing up 12 of TAMIU's 24 first half points. Hatch had the Dustdevils only two free throws in the half. TAMIU fouled the Chaps a total of 13 times in the first period.
 
While LCU held a 13-point lead at halftime, the Chaparrals were just getting started. Tyler Rogers scored the Chap's first bucket of the second period to spark an 11-2 LCU run. Holman scored nine of Lubbock Christian's next 15 points to give the team a 54-33 lead over with 13:37 left in the contest. The Chaps continued to put a cushion on their lead and took a 28-point advantage on a thunderous put-back dunk by Rogers with just over four minutes remaining. Finally, it was Chuck Kendley who put his stamp on the game with his first ever three-pointer to give LCU the 84-55 victory over the Dustdevils.
 
Rogers and Holman were the only Chaps to get in double scoring figures for the second half. LCU improved upon their opening period of play with a 61.5% (16-of-26) second half performance. Rogers crashed the boards picked up seven of his 10 rebounds in the second period alone. The Chaps continued to flourish from the charity stripe with a 91.7% (11-for-12) average. Redshirt freshman Chuck Kendley jumped into the box score late in the game with his first career three-pointer.
 
TAMIU's 55-point performance marks their lowest scoring loss of the season. Denzel Bellot notched 10 points in the half and was the only Dustdevil to post double-scoring figures in the final period. TAMIU (14-8, 8-4) could not get things working and finished the evening shooting 37.3% (19-of-51) from the field and 26.1% (6-for-23) behind the arc. Head coach Bryan Weakley was handed a technical foul at the 13:37 mark of the second half.
 
Lubbock Christian finished the night shooting 54.3% (25-for-46) from the floor and 47.1% (8-for-17) from downtown. Holman pitched in a career high six three-pointers and 29 points on 60% (9-of-15) shooting. Rogers was one rebound shy of tying a career-high, but still managed to finished the night with 23 points and 10 boards.
 
LIGHTS PLEASE
LCU has made a habit of stepping up to the occasion when the lights are on them. On three different occasions, the Chaps have taken on the number one ranked team in the Heartland and walked away with the victory. Senior Ridrell Holman had a mammoth 29-point performance on Thursday night when the Chaparrals were playing for a national television audience. Tyler Rogers has been on a hot-streak as of late as well. On Thursday evening, Rogers posted his second career double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Of the Chaps 21 games this season, LCU has scored 70 points or more in 16 contests.
 
DISTINGUISHING DAYS
LCU has been able to distinguish their success by days of the week this season. When it comes to Thursday night contests, the Chaps are a perfect 5-0. Four of their five Thursday night victories have come against Heartland Conference opponents.
 
Unfortunately for Lubbock Christian, they are not able to limit their games to Thursday nights. When it comes to contests being played on Saturdays, the Chaps hold a 4-5 record against opponents.
 
MID-SEASON MARATHON
The Chaps have been on somewhat of a marathon schedule over the past month. Over the past four weeks, LCU has played a total of nine games with five coming on the road. Three of those nine games have come within the past five days. Although Lubbock Christian has been forced to some quick turnaround between contests, there has been no stalling for the Chaparral offense. LCU has posted 75 points or more in their last six games.
 
STROKE OF GENIUS
Ridrell Holman has boosted the Chaparral offense this season. He has led Lubbock Christian in scoring a total of 12 times in the course of his career. Of those twelve games, six have come this season. Holman's precision from behind the three-point line has pushed the Chaps a 37.4% mark for their 2016-17 campaign.
 
Tyler Rogers has also been clutch since beginning the Heartland Conference season. Rogers is averaging 17 points per game over the past five contests while averaging 31 minutes per game. Rogers is has captured a 53.7% shooting average for the year and an 81.5% mark from the free throw line.
 
CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS
- Ridrell Holman's career-high six triples against Texas A&M International on Thursday pushed him to 132 career three-pointers.
- The Chaps have won five of their last six games while shooting 51.6% from the field. They have outscored their opposition by a 10-point margin.
- Brennen Fowler (12.9), Ridrell Holman (12.1), Marcos Schuster (12.1) and Tyler Rogers (11.3) are all averaging double-scoring figures for the Chaps. The group has combined for 967 points this season, which calculates to 59.9% of LCU's total points for the year.
 
FIVE FACTS ABOUT StMU
- Will Ferguson has dished out a conference leading 4.2 assists per game. He leads the St. Mary's attack with 92 assists on the season.
- The Rattlers currently rank first in the Heartland averaging 11.91 offensive rebounds per game.
- Sophomore Yanni Wetzell made the rounds on ESPN earlier this season with a dunk over Oklahoma Panhandle State. The play made it to ESPN's weekly top-10 and was voted to No. 7.
- The Rattlers are riding a three-game losing streak that began with a 72-61 loss at UA Fort Smith (Jan. 26). In those three games, St. Mary's has lost by an average margin of 16 points.
- Yanni Wetzell is at the top of St. Mary's rebounding list. The sophomore has posted 162 rebounds on the year and 7.4 rebounds per game.
 
PRIOR MEETING WITH StMU
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (December 31, 2016) - Lubbock Christian University squared off with St. Mary's University in a Heartland Conference bout that featured the Chaparrals lowest scoring performance of the season. The Chaps shot 30.8% (16/52) in a 70-55 loss to the Rattlers.
 
Junior Marcos Schuster led LCU with 13 points, scoring 12 of the points in the final 3:58 of the game. Brennen Fowler added 10 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. The Chaparrals also shot a mere 25% from behind the arc to match a season low with four total three-pointers in the contest.
 
LCU went the opening 12 minutes of the game with just nine points, and hit an offensive pulse with Brennen Fowler connecting on a jumper with 7:37 left in the first period. Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath drained LCU's lone three-pointer of the half and cut the St. Mary's lead to 24-15. The Rattlers responded quickly, with Freddie Williams answering with a trey to restore a 12-point lead for St. Mary's. The Rattlers never really let LCU gain any ground before the break and a pair of free throws by Robbie Benavides gave StMU a 29-17 lead over the Chaparrals at halftime.
 
Lubbock Christian's 17 first half points marks their lowest first period scoring performance since joining the NCAA. St. Mary's did not experience the same first half woes as they shot 42.3% (11/26) from the field. The comparisons between the teams was spread fairly even, as each squad committed nine first half turnovers. LCU outrebounded the Rattlers in the first period, but only by a small margin of 20-19. It all came down to the Chaps not being able to put the ball in the bucket as they shot 20% (5/25) from the field and 1-of-8 (12.5%) from three-point land.
 
St. Mary's came back from halftime and continued to shoot well. A three-pointer by Cameron Horning opened up the Rattler's lead to 14 points at 38-24 with 16:44 left in the contest. Isaac Cardona helped kick off an 11-0 run to close StMU's lead to 38-35 with 13:10 left in the contest. A Yanni Wetzell tip-in helped St. Mary's open their lead back up to 55-41 with five minutes left to play. From that point on, the damage was done and the Rattlers maintained a comfortable lead until a final layup by Will Ferguson gave StMU the 70-55 victory and their first win in Heartland play.
 
The Chaps shot much better in the second half as they recorded 40.7% (11-27) from the field and 37.5% (3/8) from the three-point line. LCU also tacked on 13 second half free throws on 16 attempts for an 81.3% free throw percentage. Marcos Schuster exploded at the end of the game and picked up all three of LCU's second half treys. Schuster's 12 points in the final four minutes gave the Chaps some life, but St. Mary's lead proved to be too much.
 
The Rattlers improved upon their first half performance by shooting 56.5% (13/23) and 68.8% (11/16) from the charity stripe. St. Mary's outscored the Chaps 18-16 in second half paint points.
 
LCU's loss to St. Mary's is the first since the 2014-15 season when the Chaps were defeated 66-63 (2/26/15) in San Antonio. The loss also marks the fifth time this season that Lubbock Christian has been able to outrebound an opponent and still suffer defeat. Heading into the matchup, St. Mary's allowed an average of 75.3 points per game.