ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY (5-8, 1-1) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (5-9, 1-2)
Saturday, January 6 - 3:00 PM
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
All-Time Series: Series tied 5-5



 
LOOKING UP
Saturday afternoon will be a stepping stone for Lubbock Christian University, as the Chaps will look to capture their second consecutive win with a Heartland Conference tilt against St. Mary's University. After starting their conference schedule 0-2, LCU found themselves in the last place position in the Heartland standings. Lubbock Christian's Thursday night success over Texas A&M International bumped them up to the sixth-place position (1-2).

THURSDAY REWIND
Lubbock Christian University jumped back into the win column Thursday night defeating Texas A&M International 66-43 inside Rip Griffin Center for LCU's second largest winning margin of the season. The Chaparrals offensive efforts were led by Isaac Asrat who captured 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
 
Asrat pushed the tempo early scoring 12 of the Chaps first 19 points as LCU exploded to a 19-2 advantage in the opening eight minutes of play. Lubbock Christian's defense kept the pressure on Texas A&M International for the remainder of the half keeping the Dustdevils under 10 points until the 8:14 mark where TAMIU's Kamari Robinson netted a pair of free throws to close the Chaparral advantage to 30-11. Despite the Dustdevils 8-2 scoring run to close out the first half, LCU headed into the intermission with a 41-24 lead.
 
Texas A&M International were limited to nine buckets in the opening period for a 37.5% (9-of-24) team shooting average. Robinson and Brendan Ortiz led the way for the Dustdevils with nine points apiece in the half.
 
The Chaps were able to capitalize off of TAMIU errors in the first half forcing the Dustdevils into eight turnovers. LCU converted 11 fast break points. Asrat knocked down a 75% (6-for-8) field goal average to tally 14 points and push the Chaparrals to a 61.5% (16-of-26) first half shooting percentage.
 
LCU continued to pile it on the Dustdevils widening their lead to 20 points at 53-33 following a rim rocking dunk by Kentton Williams. The Chaps forced another eight turnovers out of TAMIU in the final 20 minutes while scoring 14 of their 25 second half points off of the Dustdevil's turnovers. Asrat and Jay Workman led the Chaparrals with seven points each. Though Lubbock Christian cooled down to a 34.6% (9-of-26) shooting average in the final period, their defense ramped things up even more holding Texas A&M International to 19 points in the second half.
 
Workman (12 points), Kentton Williams (11 points) and Marcos Schuster (10 points) joined Asrat in double-scoring figures for the evening. The Chaps closed the game out shooting 48.1% from the floor. They outscored the Dustdevils 32-16 inside the paint and 29-8 off of turnovers.
 
LCU improves to a 5-9 overall record and moves up to eighth place in Heartland standings with a 1-2 record against conference foes.

STARTING FIVE
The Chaps are providing efficiency with their starting five throughout their first 14 games. LCU has outscored opponents by a 7.4 margin with their starters. The Chaparrals are averaging 61.4 points per contest from their starting five and 74.7 points per game among all players.
 
CHAP LEADERS
Three Chap players are averaging double-scoring figures this season. Isaac Asrat has led the way so far throwing down 19.6 points per game. Asrat has produced 13 games with double-digit scoring performances, with his longest streak lasting 11 contests. The junior from Plano, Texas leads the Chaparrals with 92 made field goals for a 47.2% average from the floor. Asrat also ranks 19^th in in the nation for three-point field goal percentage (47.9%), 17^th for made three-pointers per game (3.29) and 12^th nationally for field goals made behind the arc (46).
 
Marcos Schuster has averaged 3.6 assists for the season for 51 of LCU's 191 assists. Schuster also stands tied for first among the Lubbock Christian squad with 13 steals.
 
Brennen Fowler has registered an average 2.14 blocks throughout the opening portion of the Chaparral schedule ranking him second in the conference, 25^th nationally, for blocked shots per game. Fowler has tallied 30 of LCU's 54 blocks for the season listing him 16^th overall among division II players. The Smyer, Texas product has also pulled down 116 rebounds for an 8.3 average.
 
KEY TO THE GAME
Lubbock Christian has battered opponents from inside the lane scoring 32.6 points per game inside the paint. The Chaps have registered 35 points or more from inside the lane  in six games and at least 40 points on two occasions.
 
StMU FACTS
- St. Mary's has endured a long layoff since their last game where they defeated Texas A&M – Kingsville 61-57 in Kingsville, Texas (Dec. 19).
- Of the Rattlers five wins, three have come by double-digit margins. StMU lit up the scoreboard 106-56 against Arlington Baptist College, where they knocked down 42 field goals on 63 attempts (66.7%).
- Petar Radojicic leads the St. Mary's squad with 13.1 points per game this season.
- The Rattlers have posted 72.31 points per contest while allowing 71.46 from their opponents.
- Robby Benavides has flipped a 2.95 assist/turnover ratio, ranking him second in the Heartland and 26^th nationally in the category.

RIVALRY AGAINST StMU
The series between the Chaps and the Rattlers is still quite young as there have been 10 games played throughout the rivalry. The series is currently tied as each team has recorded five wins. Lubbock Christian came out on top in the most recent meeting beating St. Mary's 75-68 inside Rip Griffin Center (Feb. 4, 2017).

PRIOR MEETING WITH StMU
LUBBOCK, Texas (February 4, 2017) – Tyler Rogers and Ridrell Holman combined for 34 points (17 points each) to lead Lubbock Christian University through 14 lead changes and to a 75-68 victory over St. Mary's University Saturday afternoon inside Rip Griffin Center for a second straight Heartland Conference win.
 
Lubbock Christian raced out to an 8-6 lead over the Rattlers on a layup by Brennen Fowler just six-minutes into the contest. The Chaps traded the lead with St. Mary's four times before a jumper by Ed Seay put the Rattlers up 19-18 with 9:35 left in the half. StMU then went on a 15-6 run to take an 11-point lead, their largest of the game, with just over two minutes to play in the opening period. The Chaps scored seven unanswered points to cut St. Mary's lead to six-points, 36-30, at halftime.
 
LCU shot 46.2% (12-of-26) from the field and a disappointing 0-for-7 from behind the three-point line in the first half. Holman, who has been nothing short of spectacular from downtown as of late was ice cold in the first half. Holman shot 20% (1-of-5) from the field and 0-for-4 from long-range. Brennen Fowler led the Chap attack in the half with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
 
The Rattlers almost mirrored the Lubbock Christian's shot attempts in the period with 48% (12-of-25) from the floor. However, unlike the Chaparrals, they were able to score from long-range. St Mary's converted seven three-pointers on 11 attempts for a 63.6% average from beyond the arc. Will Ferguson led the Rattlers with 11 points at the break.
 
Yanni Wetzell split a pair of free throws to open up the second half giving the Rattlers a 37-30 lead. The Chaps then scored eight straight points to grab their first lead of the final period. St. Mary's would not go down quietly, and regained their lead at 45-41 with 13:44 left to play. Following a three-pointer by Tyler Rogers, Jay Workman converted a layup to put the Chaparrals up 46-45 for their final lead change of the afternoon. LCU continued building their advantage and went up 58-51 on a zany three-pointer by Chuck Kendley that looked to be a well-placed lob pass. Although StMU's Robbie Benavides scored the final bucket of the game, the Chaps were able to finish out the contest and take a 75-68 victory over the Rattlers.
 
Lubbock Christian found their rhythm and grabbed a 69.6% (16-of-23) shooting mark in the second period. Eight of LCU's second half jumpers came from behind the arc for a 61.5% (8-of-13) three-point average. Holman led the Chaps in the second period with 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 from downtown. The Chaps ripped four steals from the Rattlers and converted 20 of their 45 second half points off of turnovers alone.
 
Will Ferguson had a game-high 21 points for St. Mary's in addition to four assists. Although the Rattlers started out the game with a hot-hand from three-point range, they closed the contest with a 47.4% (9-of-19) average from downtown. Seven of their nine triples came in the first half.
 
In total, Lubbock Christian finished the afternoon shooting 57.1% from the floor and 70% (14-for-20) from the charity stripe. Senior Marcus Arrington dished out six of LCU's 14 assists. Isaac Cardona led the Chaps effort on the boards with six rebounds. Holman (17 points), Rogers (17 points) and Fowler (15 points) gave the Chaps three players in double figures in scoring.