LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (0-2) vs.
RANDALL (2-2)
Thursday, November 14 – 7 p.m.
Rip Griffin Center – Lubbock, Texas
 
RETURN TO THE RIP
After kicking off their 2019-20 campaign on the road last weekend, the Lubbock Christian men's basketball team will return to Lubbock to kick off their home schedule this Thursday at 7 p.m. with a game against Randall. LCU will host 14 men's basketball games in total this season, which will all be played at the Rip Griffin Center, which was named after B.R. "Rip" Griffin, a former secretary of the LCU Board of Trustees, whose generous donation of $500,000, made possible the $4,200,000, 51,500 square foot facility. Officially dedicated on October 9, 2000, the arena seats 1,950 people for sporting events. The Chaps went 13-1 on their home court last season, and they have not posted a losing record at home since the 2006-07 season.
 
NEW FACES IN NEW PLACES
For a team that lost only two seniors to graduation after the 2018-19 campaign, the Chaps have a number of new players who have already gotten playing time this year. Through the first two contests in 2019, three LCU players have seen their first collegiate playing time ever, and another three have played at the Division II level for the first time. True freshmen Ty Caswell and Aamer Muhammad both got on the floor, with Caswell starting both and scoring eight points against Colorado School of Mines. They are joined by redshirt freshman Cade McDowell, who saw his first playing time against the Orediggers. Three transfers have also seen playing time for the Chaps in Lloyd Daniels (Murray State College), Parker Hicks (Texas Tech) and Joshua Davey (Murdoch University).
 
TOUGH TO START
LCU's men's basketball team is not one to shy away from tough competition, as shown by the teams they've played to start each of the last five seasons. The Chaps have made a habit of playing in a conference challenge with the RMAC, taking on Colorado School of Mines and Regis, with either one or both of the teams usually ranked. That held true this year, as LCU traveled to the No. 14 ranked Orediggers to take on them and the Rangers, suffering two losses on the season's opening weekend. It is the third time in the last four years that LCU has started the season with an 0-2 record.
 
CHARITY STRIPE
The one offensive category in which Lubbock Christian is outperforming its opponents two games into the season is free throw percentage. On 28 attempts from the foul line, the Chaps have hit 22 or 78.6%. Although it is early in the year, 78% from the line would be seven points better than the Chaps shot last year on 645 free throw attempts. Swingman Kobe Thompson has taken the most free throw attempts with seven and made six of them.
 
SLOW OFF THE MARK
In LCU's first two games of the season, they were doomed by slow starts. The Chaps have scored only 43 points in the first halves of their first two games while allowing 73. In the second halves, however, it has been much tighter, with the Chaps scoring 64 points and opponents scoring just 66. A stronger beginning to Thursday night's game could served to help LCU get its first win of the 2019-20 campaign.
 
AROUND THE CORNER
Lubbock Christian head coach Todd Duncan won't look past Thursday night's contest against the Saints, but what's coming is the Chaps' first foray into Lone Star Conference basketball. If it seems early, it's because it is. LCU did not play its first Heartland Conference opponent last season until November 29's bout with Dallas Baptist. Lubbock Christian's LSC opener will be on the road against an Angelo State team that reached the South Central Regional a season ago. The Chaps last played in San Angelo on November 25, 2017, beating the Rams 69-65.
 
SCOUTING THE SAINTS

• Randall is coming off a win Tuesday night against Oklahoma City, taking down the NAIA opponent 70-67
• The Saints compete in the National Christian College Athletic Association, where they are a perennial national title contender, reaching the elite eight a season ago
• The school was formerly known as Hillsdale Free Will Baptist until a name change in 2016
• In four games this season, Randall is averaging 64 points per game on 37 percent shooting from the field.
• Sophomore Jordan Marshall leads the team with 14.8 points per game in 31.5 minutes per game on the floor

 
THE SERIES WITH RANDALL
Lubbock Christian has never lost to Randall in the five times the two teams have met. The series began in 2014, and the two teams have played every season since.
 
LAST TIME THESE TWO TEAMS MET
LUBBOCK, Texas (January 4, 2019) – Lubbock Christian University's Brennen Fowler set a new Chaparral single-game scoring record with 47 points, marking just the fifth 40-point game in Chap history, to help LCU push past a hot start from Randall and defeat the Saints 104-98
 
LCU led for just 8:58 in the game after Randall opened the game 13-13 from the field, including 10-10 from the behind the arc. The Saints cooled off from behind the arc a little in the second half, but still shot 75% from three-point range overall in the game, forcing the Chaps to outscore them.
 
The 104 points for the Chaps marked the first time the team had scored triple digits since Nov. 29, 2013 against Ecclesia College and was only the fifth time LCU had surpassed the 100-point mark under head coach Todd Duncan.
 
Randall's scorching shooting start gave them a large early lead as they pushed the gap to 14 points less than 10 minutes in, but Fowler kept the Chaps in the game with a perfect 11-11 performance. He also crashed the boards for seven rebounds, setting him up for 15 total in the game and his sixth double-double of the season.
 
The Saints still held a double-digit lead with just under three minutes left in the half, but an 8-0 in one minute cut the Chap deficit to two, which is what Randal was still leading by as the two teams went into the locker room for halftime.
 
In the second half, the Chaps never allowed the Saints to get ahead by double-digits but struggled to get on top. Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath finally hit a go-ahead basket with 6:45 left to play to give LCU an 86-85 lead.
 
The two teams see-sawed back and forth for the next three minutes, but the Chaparrals finally pull away when an Isaac Asrat three-pointer sparked an 8-1 run that gave LCU the lead for good.
 
Fowler joined elite Chap company when the 40-point performance, with only four other players in history recording scoring efforts in the 40s. His 47 points surpassed the previous record of 43 set by Dusty Middleton on Feb. 10, 2001 and is also the sixth most points scored in a single game by a Division II player this year.
 
Two other Chaps finished in double-figures against the Saints in Gilbreath (15) and Zach Stepp, who hit three shots from behind the arc and had a career-high 13 points.
 
Randall, which competes in the NCCAA and is the three-time defending national champion at that level, had five players finish in double-figures, including team-leading scorer Antonio Wilson, who had 32 points.