LUBBOCK, Texas (December 14, 2019) – It was the first Lone Star Conference meeting ever and will be the last ever for Lubbock Christian and Tarleton State's men's basketball teams, and the Chaps came out on top, beating the Texans 79-72 on Saturday.
 
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for LCU to TSU, marking the Chaps' first win over the Texans since 1988 and giving LCU a 16-9 lead in the all-time series. It was also Lubbock Christian's first-ever LSC win, bringing their record for the season to 4-4, 1-2. Tarleton dropped to 0-3 in conference play with the loss and is 4-5 overall to start a season for the first time since 1993.
 
Tarleton controlled the game for most of the first half, although Lubbock Christian did have a four-point lead at the first media timeout thanks to a three-pointer from Ty Caswell and a jumper from Rashaan Proctor. The Texans scored eight straight points out of the break to jump back in front and stayed on top for the remainder of the opening half.
 
It was consistent offense that kept TSU ahead of LCU throughout the first 20 minutes of play in the Rip Griffin Center. The Texans missed back-to-back shots four minutes into the game, but following the first media timeout did not have two straight missed shots on offense again in the first half. Leading Tarleton scorer Josh Hawley led things inside with a pair of thundering dunks, while the TSU guards shot 50 percent (4-8) from behind the arc.
 
The Chaps never trailed by more than nine, however, thanks to timely three-pointers from Cameron Copley and Parker Hicks, who hit three shots from behind the arc in the half. Proctor also went to work down low against Tarleton's taller forwards, reaching double figures with 10 in the first half on an incredibly efficient 4-6 shooting.
 
LCU went into the locker room at the half down by just 36-30, despite shooting on 36.7 (11-30) percent from the field and 35.7 (5-14) percent from behind the arc.
 
Tarleton came back out after halftime and scored the exact same amount of points in the second half as they had in the first. Lubbock Christian, however, caught fire offensively, shooting 57.7 percent (15-26) from the field, including 46.7 percent (7-15) on three-pointers, scoring 49 points to secure the win.
 
The Chaps still trailed for the first six minutes of the second half, but were quickly closing the gap with three-pointers from Ty Caswell and Hicks. LCU finally got the lead again at the 14:35 mark on a three-pointer from Lloyd Daniels. They would never trail again.
 
Daniels' three-pointer was a part of a 17-2 Lubbock Christian run that was capped off with three straight freshman three-pointers, two of which came from Aamer Muhammad, while Caswell hit the third, forcing a Tarleton timeout.
 
The widest LCU's lead ever got was 11 points with 7:38 left to play as Proctor blew by a Tarleton defender for a dunk and then hit a jumper in the paint the next time down the floor. The Texans cut the lead back to single digits and even got within four on a steal-and-score with just 46 seconds to go. They were forced to foul on the following possession on every remaining LCU possession, however, and the Chaps hit their free throws to close out the win.
 
Only six Chap players scored in the game, but they all finished in double-figures. Proctor led the way with his second career double-double, scoring a season-high 19 points to go along with 10 boards. The Louisiana native is the first LCU player to record a double-double this season and got five of his rebounds on the offensive glass, helping LCU to their 19 second chance points.
 
Daniels was next with 16, Hicks scored 13 and Caswell had 11. Copley and Muhammad both finished with 10, marking Muhammad's first-ever double-figure scoring performance at the collegiate level. Copley again led the team in assists with eight.
 
For Tarleton, Hawley led in scoring with 14 points and 13 rebounds for his league-leading eighth double-double. He was held well under his season scoring average, however, which prior to the contest was 19.3 points per game.
 
TURNING POINT
Lubbock Christian hit five straight three-pointers between the 15:43 and 10:09 marks in the second half and added in a Daniels jumper to take a lead that they would never relinquish. Overall, LCU was 12-29 from behind the arc in the game. They are now 4-1 in games where they make at least 10 three-pointers, with the only loss in triple overtime against No. 19 DBU.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Chaps improved their overall, three-point and free throw shooting all by 21 percentage points from the first half to the second, shooting a red hot 57.69 percent from the field overall to complete their comeback and win the game.
 
NEXT UP
LCU will go back on the road next week, traveling to Cameron and Midwestern State on Thursday and Saturday before the holiday break.