WICHITA, Kansas (January 25, 2018) – Thursday night extended the win-streak to three games as Lubbock Christian University notched an 83-73 victory on the road against Newman University. Five Chaps scored in double-figures, but Isaac Asrat led the way with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. Marcos Schuster finished with 15 points, 12 of which came from the free throw line.
 
Lubbock Christian opened up the night with a 13-7 lead in the opening six minutes of play. Dametrius Walker kept the Jets close cutting the LCU lead to a three-point margin following a three-pointer at the 11:51 mark. The Chaparrals responded with a 9-2 scoring run over the next 2:45 that was capped on a Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath triple. The offensive burst gave Lubbock Christian their largest lead of the half at 24-14. Newman remained persistent and continued to chip away at the Chap's lead until a layup from Tim Troussel tied the ballgame up at 34-34 with 2:24 left in the half. Asrat converted on a layup of his own helping LCU score five unanswered points to conclude the opening period with a 42-37 lead.
 
Asrat's 14 first-half points pushed the Lubbock Christian squad to a 51.5% (17-of-33) shooting mark. The Chap's also knocked down half of their three-pointers tallying four buckets from beyond the arc in the period. Lubbock Christian's defense out-muscled Newman holding the Jets to a 26.7% (4-of-15) mark from three-point range and 13 jumpers for a 43.3% field goal average. LCU also outrebounded Newman 21-13 in the half allowing the Chaparrals to outscore the Jets 11-3 in points off of turnovers.
 
NU's Kevin Bryant struck first with a layup at the beginning of the second period. Unfortunately for the Jets, that would be as close as they would come for the remainder of the game. Kentton Williams drained a pair of free throws that pushed the Chaps on to seven unanswered points over a one-minute span, returning the LCU lead to 10-points at 49-39. Despite a two-minute lull where neither team was able to convert a bucket, the Chaps righted the ship with another three-point missile from Gilbreath to regain    an 11-point advantage, their largest of the game with 13:22 remaining. Andre Sands pulled the Jets within five, but Lubbock Christian once again came back with six straight points to take back a 67-56 lead. The Chaparrals closed out the night with a free throw clinic scoring their final 18 points from the stripe. Over the last 6:37 of play, Lubbock Christian registered an 18-for-20 clip from the free throw line to seal an 83-73 victory over the Jets.
 
After opening up with five points in the first half, Schuster drilled all 10 of his free throws in the final 20 minutes to finish the night with 15 points and assist the Chaps to a season-high 23 made free throw baskets. Gilbreath (16 points), Fowler (13 points) and Williams (10 points) also registered double-scoring figures for the evening. Fowler was one board shy of another double-double performance. Asrat and Gilbreath were not far behind picking up eight rebounds each. In total, the Chaparrals tallied a 49% (25-of-51) outing from the field and a 78.8% (26-of-33) average from the charity stripe. LCU outperformed the Jets on the glass with a 41-31 rebounding advantage.
 
With the win, LCU moves to 9-10 overall this season and 5-3 in conference contests. They also continue their climb up the Heartland standings into a tie with Rogers State for the third-place position.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Marcos Schuster finished a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line against the Jets. The senior's outing at the charity stripe is the best performance since a single-game individual record was set by Kenny Hewitt's. Hewitt registered a 14-for-14 free throw shooting performance against Mid-America Nazarene University (2/7/09).
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Chaps will now head east for another road game against a No. 17 ranked University of Arkansas Fort Smith program. Tipoff against the Lions is set for Saturday, Jan. 27 at 3 p.m. inside Stubblefield Center on the UAFS Campus.