6-Seed LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (20-9)
vs. 3-Seed COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES (20-5) 
Friday, March 15 – 7:30 p.m.
Recreation and Convocation Center (Austin, Texas)
All-Time Series: CSM leads 3-1
 
MARCH MADNESS
For the second time since becoming postseason eligible in the 2015-16 season, Lubbock Christian University was selected as one of the teams to continue playing in the South Central Regional. LCU enters the NCAA Postseason Tournament as the No. 6 seed and will take on the No. 3 seed Colorado School of Mines. The Orediggers were the winners of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Regular Season title, but lost in the conference tournament to Black Hills State. CSM is in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year and the ninth time in the last ten seasons.
 
HOW WE GOT HERE
Lubbock Christian had one of its most successful regular seasons since moving up to the NCAA Division II level, winning 20 games to just nine losses. The Chaps set the tone in the first weekend of the season, beating a Colorado School of Mines team that was receiving votes in the national poll and a Regis team that was ranked No. 20. The season included two four-game win streaks and a pair of wins over top-10 opponents, including a victory against then-No. 4 St. Edward's on the final day of the regular season. They finished third in the Heartland Conference.
 
A+ ASRAT
Senior Lubbock Christian Guard Isaac Asrat was named the Google Cloud Academic All-America Team Member of the Year award winner for men's basketball, which was announced on Tuesday. The Plano native is a mathematics major at Lubbock Christian, where he has posted a perfect 4.0 GPA while earning a spot on the All-Heartland Conference First Team, averaging 16 points and 4.1 rebounds game. He is the first LCU men's basketball player ever to be named to the Academic All-American First Team and only the third to be honored on any team.
 
CHAPS IN THE REGIONAL
Only one player on the 2018-19 edition of the Chaps has any prior experience in NCAA Regional play in Brennen Fowler, who was a sophomore in 2016 when the last and only other time LCU played in an NCAA Postseason game. The Chaps were the lowest seeded team going into that regional at No. 8, but got one of the biggest wins in program history there, taking down the host and No. 1 seed Midwestern State in a 79-73 overtime win before falling to Tarleton State, who eventually won the regional and advance to the Elite Eight, in the second round. Former Chap A.J. Luckey was the only LCU player to average double figures at the tournament, while Fowler got 9.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.  
 
HEARTLAND RECOGNITION
Lubbock Christian University seniors Brennen Fowler and Isaac Asrat were named to the All-Heartland Conference First Team for the 2018-19 season, the conference announced on Wednesday. Fowler was named to the All-Conference First Team and also has an Honorable Mention selection to his name, while Asrat was put on the conference First Team for the first time after making the Honorable Mention team last year. Fowler was second in the conference in both scoring (19.0) and rebounding (10.3), while Asrat was No. 5 in the Heartland with 16.0 points per game and led the team in steals.
 
DAUNTING DEFENSE
Out of the 304 Division II men's basketball teams in the country, LCU ranks No. 22 in field goal percentage defense this season. They have limited opponents to a .409 shooting percentage, holding opponents to lower than 40 percent in 13 games this season (11-2 in that time). Although the Orediggers finished the season with a shooting percentage of exactly .500, LCU held them to their second lowest percentage of the year at .386 when the two teams met to open the season.
 
DOUBLE-TROUBLE
Lubbock Christian forward Brennen Fowler is averaging a double-double for the season with 19.0 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per contest. Both of those figures are second best in the Heartland Conference, and he has posted actual double-doubles in five of the last games and 15 total times this season, giving him 40 for his career. Among active Division II players, Fowler's 40 double-doubles rank as the fourth most, and he is tied for the 19th most across all Divisions.
 
SOME ASSISTANCE, PLEASE
Guard Cameron Copley has quickly been increasing his assist numbers in recent weeks, posting at least five in six of the last seven games and leading LCU in that category in the last seven contests. In Heartland Conference play, the Canadian native racked up the second most assists per game at 4.6, only behind Hilltopper August Haas, who ranks No. 6 nationally with 6.7 per game. Copley set a new career high as the Chaps upset St. Edward's in the final game of the regular season, assisting 10 Lubbock Christian baskets. It marked the first time a Chap had reached the double-digit assist mark in a single game since Marcus Arrington had 10 against Our Lady of the Lake on 11/21/18.
 
THE BEST FOR LAST
Junior forward Rashaan Proctor waited until the last game of the regular season to post his best performance, pouring in a career-high 23 points in LCU's win over then-No. 4/5 ranked St. Edward's. Proctor took the game over late in the second half, scoring 11 of his points in the final eight minutes, including seven straight at one point. Proctor also hit a three-pointer in the closing minutes of the game, marking just the fourth time this season he had made a shot from behind the arc. Proctor completed the effort by pulling down six rebounds and blocking one shot.
 
FIVE FACTS ABOUT MINES

• Orediigers won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 21-1 record in league play
• After losing three of their first four games, Mines rattled off 22 straight wins
• CSM ranks No. 8 nationally in total blocked shots with 135, averaging 4.5 blocked shots per game
• The Orediggers hit their free shots, ranking No. 8 in the country with 523 made free throws
• Four of the five Mines starters average double figures in scoring

 
THE SERIES WITH THE OREDIGGERS
Lubbock Christian and Colorado School of Mines have faced off on the opening weekend of the regular season each of the last four years as apart of the RMAC/Heartland Challenge. The Orediggers won the first three meetings between the two, including a game in the Rip Griffin Center in 2016. The Chaps finally broke the streak this season, winning 70-62 on a neutral court in the season opener.