LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (13-13, 9-6) at ST. EDWARD'S UNIVERSITY (16-11, 6-9)
Saturday, February 24 – 3 PM
Recreation & Convocation Center (Austin, Texas)
All-Time Series: LCU leads 15-7



 
LEAVING IT ON THE ROAD
Saturday afternoon's implications go farther than the box scores for Lubbock Christian University, who have an opportunity to better position themselves for the Heartland Conference Tournament. Not only is the regular season sweep over St. Edward's on the line, but the Chaps are also looking to end their regular season with an overall record above .500.

A LOOK AT THEIR LAST GAME
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (February 17, 2018) – Road woes continue for the Lubbock Christian University Chaparrals who dropped a heartbreaker Saturday afternoon in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Chaps finished the day with 42 points inside the paint while shooting 45.2% from the field. Senior Marcos Schuster led the way for LCU with 23 points and four steals.

Lubbock Christian jumped out early scoring 16 of the game's first 22 points in the opening seven minutes. Oklahoma Christian finally found life and took a 25-24 advantage over the Chaps with 8:58 remaining in the half. Schuster stole the lead right back for LCU with an old-fashioned three-point play. The teams traded leads two more times before OC went on a 5-1 scoring run to end the half with a 35-31 advantage over the Chaparrals.
 
Schuster and Brennen Fowler led the Chap attack in the opening period accounting for eight points each. Fowler showed his efficiency going 4-for-7 from the field while scooping up four rebounds. LCU held the Eagles to 38.7% shooting but were severely outrebounded by a 26-15 margin. All 15 of the Chaparrals boards came on the defensive end of the floor leading to zero second-chance points. The Lubbock Christian squad recorded a 42.3% field goal average of their own but were limited to a pair of three-point buckets. Schuster snagged four of the Chaps five steals in the period pushing the Eagles into nine turnovers.
 
Isaac Asrat got things cooking for LCU at the beginning of the second half with a mid-range jumper. Fowler and Kentton Williams then provided a one-two punch that found the Chaparrals up 41-38 with 16:12 to play. Jay Workman followed up with back-to-back buckets extending Lubbock Christian's lead. However, Oklahoma Christian strung together a 17-3 scoring run to jump in front of LCU for the final time. Try as they might, the Chaps were unable to overcome the deficit and ultimately fell to the Eagles by a final score of 86-81.
 
Schuster piled on 15 more points in the second half to lead the Chap offensive efforts. Williams shot a perfect 4-4 from the field while knocking down both of his free throw attempts on his way to 10 points of his own in the period. Lubbock Christian's defense was simply unable to contain the Eagles who finished the final 20 minutes with a 65.5% field goal average.
 
LCU closed out the day shooting 28-of-62 (45.2%) but were still outscored inside the painted area 44-42 by the Eagle offense. Oklahoma Christian's powerful offensive performance was highlighted by a 51.7% field goal average, a 70.8% clip from the free throw line and a 63.6% performance from three-point range.
 
Williams accounted for 16 points while Fowler (14 points) and Asrat (11 points) also scored in double-figures.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
OC's shooting performance Saturday marked LCU's third contest this season in which an opponent finished above a 50% field goal average. The Chaps have lost all three games when their opponents have completed the task.

THE SPLIT
Lubbock Christian has been a tale of two teams throughout their Heartland schedule. At home, the Chaps finished with a 7-1 record against conference opponents. The road has been a different story, as the LCU squad stands 2-5 during the conference season. Throughout their Heartland schedule, Lubbock Christian has averaged 81.2 points per game at home, compared to 67.1 points per contest when playing on the road.

STANDINGS
The Chaparrals currently reside in the fourth-place position of the most recent Heartland standings with a 9-6 mark. Lubbock Christian can still jump into third-place provided they get a win against the Hilltoppers and Newman falls to Dallas Baptist this weekend. If that were the case, the Chaps would own the head-to-head over the Jets and would earn the No. 3 seed heading in the Heartland Conference Tournament next week in Tulsa, Okla.

TOUGH CROWD
Lubbock Christian's schedule has been nothing short of difficult this season. To go along with the unpredictability that has seemingly been the Heartland Conference, the Chaps had been facing adversity even in their non-conference schedule. LCU's completed slate ranks sixth in the nation, while their cumulative opposition percentage (past and future opponents combined) stands eighth nationally with a .566 average. Lubbock Christian's schedule has featured seven nationally ranked foes.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
Throughout the Chaps road schedule, they have found themselves in an unfamiliar position where opponents have managed to outrebound LCU. Lubbock Christian has managed to outwork their foes on the glass by a 35.2-34.2 margin, but on the road, the Chaparrals have been out-boarded in seven of their 11 contests. Only one of those seven performances have resulted in a victory for LCU.
 
SEU FACTS
- Landon Goesling continues to lead the Heartland Conference averaging 22.5 points per game. The junior is shooting 47% from the field, 40.8% from three-point range and 85.8% from the free throw line.
- SEU's offense has posted an assist/turnover ratio of 1.37 to lead the conference.
- The Hilltoppers rank 12^th in the nation with 663 free throws attempted and 13^th nationally with 488 made baskets from the stripe.
- Goesling leads the country with 193 made free throws.
- St. Edward's 77-63 win over Texas A&M International Wednesday night snapped a four-game losing streak for the Hilltoppers.

RIVALRY AGAINST SEU
The Chaps have experienced a wealth of success against SEU since their first meeting in which LCU pulled off a 75-64 victory (Nov. 22, 1985). Since then, Lubbock Christian has widened their series record to a 15-7 mark over St. Edward's. In fact, the Chaparrals have come out on top against the Hilltoppers in 13 out of the last 14 meetings. Since joining the Heartland Conference, Lubbock Christian has jumped to an 8-1 record against St. Edward's. The Chaps only loss to SEU, since the turn of the century, came in a 67-65 result on the road in Austin, Texas (Jan. 24, 2015).

PRIOR MEETING WITH SEU
LUBBOCK, Texas (January 18, 2018) – Offensive outburst would be an understatement when talking about Lubbock Christian University's performance Thursday night against St. Edward's University. The Chaps were three points shy of the century mark as they downed the Hilltoppers 97-83 inside Rip Griffin Center. Five LCU players registered double-figures in the scoring column but were led by junior Isaac Asrat who went off for a game-high 23 points.
 
Both teams kick started their offense early with seven lead changes in the opening six minutes of the contest. Dorian Lopez knocked down a triple for the Hilltoppers at the 13:26 mark to give SEU a 19-16 advantage. However, Marcos Schuster put the Chaps back on top a minute and half later with a pair of free throws. LCU traded baskets with St. Edward's over the next four minutes until Brennen Fowler drained a mid-range jumper to put the Chaparrals up by five for their largest lead of the half. The Hilltoppers came back with a 19-4 scoring run giving SEU a 10-point lead with 2:17 to play in the opening period. Once again, Schuster provided the spark for LCU scoring five of the Chaps next seven points to close out the half and cut the St. Edward's lead to 44-41 at the break.
 
There were 13 lead changes and 10 tied scored in the first half alone. Though St. Edward's went into the intermission with the lead and a 48.6% performance from the field, LCU proved their efficiency shooting 15-of-28 (53.6%) from the floor. Schuster was on a rampage for the Chaps scoring 17 points in the period, going 6-for-7 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. SEU managed to convert 14 points off of Lubbock Christian's 10 first half turnovers. Kobe Thompson was the only non-starter to jump in the first half scoring column after netting four free throws and a two-point bucket.
 
Although St. Edward's got on the board first with a layup to kick off the second period, Asrat quickly responded for LCU by drilling a three-pointer that leveled the score at 46-46. Two minutes later, Kentton Williams tied the ballgame for the 13^th and final time on a follow up tip-in that brought the score to 50-50. Lucas Doria immediately came back with put back of his own for the Hilltoppers to regain the lead. With 12:11 left to play, Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath provided a three-point dagger, putting the Chaps up 57-56 in what would prove to be the final lead change of the evening. After that, Lubbock Christian was able to step on the gas and nail six of their final seven field goals to finish the night with a 97-83 win.
 
The Chaparrals followed up their stellar first-half shooting performance with an even more impressive 56.4% average in the second-half. After scoring just four points in the opening period, Asrat found his rhythm and scored 19 points in the final 20 minutes on 8-of-12 shooting and a trio of three-pointers. Brennen Fowler pulled down 10 points and 12 rebounds in the second half alone. All told, Lubbock Christian closed out the contest with a 55.2% (37-of-67) field goal average and 52.6% (10-of-19) performance from downtown. The Hilltoppers were overpowered on the glass allowing the Chaps to a 39-31 rebounding advantage.
 
Asrat's scoring barrage marks his eighth performance with 20 points or more this season. Jay Workman (19 points), Marcos Schuster (17 points), Fowler (14 points) and Gilbreath (10 points) rounded out the Chap players in double-scoring figures. Fowler also notched 16 rebounds giving him his third straight double-double and his seventh of the season.
 
Lubbock Christian moves to 3-3 in Heartland Conference standings and 7-10 overall. The win over the Hilltoppers also moves the Chaps to a 15-7 edge in the overall series against St. Edward's.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Lubbock Christian's 97-point explosion is their largest scoring performance of the season. It was also their highest scoring contest since a 99-70 win over Rogers State inside Rip Griffin Center (Feb. 13, 2016).