LUBBOCK, Texas (January 25, 2020) – For the second straight season the Lubbock Christian men's basketball team upset St. Edward's inside the Rip Griffin Center, beating the Hiltoppers 87-81 on Saturday afternoon.
 
The win was the Chaps' first over a ranked opponent this season after previously going 0-3 in their opportunities so far this year. The last time they beat a ranked opponent was on March 15, 2019, when they beat Colorado School of Mines in the first round of the South Central Regional. The last LCU win over an opponent ranked inside the top five was against these same Hilltoppers on March 2, 2019, as they took down No. 4 SEU in the final game of the regular season. It is Lubbock Christian's only other win over a top five opponent since they moved to the NCAA Division II level in 2013.
 
A huge part of the win was LCU's performance on the charity stripe, where they were a perfect 27-27, setting new season-highs in both free throws attempted and made. The Chaps were also perfect from the free throw line last weekend against West Texas A&M (10-10), but their 27-27 performance is the best by any NCAA Division II team this season and set a new Lone Star Conference record.
 
Lloyd Daniels shot the most of those free throws at a perfect 8-8 from the line, helping him get to his career-high 25 points in the game. He was 8-12 from the field with one three-pointer and a pair of rebounds. Four other Chaps finished in double-figures with him, but only one more set a new career-high in Aamer Muhammad who scored 16 points off the bench, including 7-7 on foul shots, and added in four assists.
 
The Chaps were hot to start the game, getting an early five-point lead thanks to a three-pointer from Cameron Copley and a fastbreak layup from Daniels. That momentum carried throughout the rest of the opening 20 minutes of play, as LCU shot 58.3 percent from the field, including 55 percent from behind the arc in the first half. Overall in the game, Lubbock Christian shot 56.8 percent, and an even better 58.8 percent on three-pointers, which set a new season-high. LCU is now 6-0 when shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
 
St. Edward's kept close, however, shooting 48.3 percent in the first half. The Hilltoppers never had a lead before halftime, but timely buckets from Ashton Spears and Jake Krafka kept them within reach. Lubbock Christian's largest lead of the game came with three minutes left before the break, as Daniels drew a foul and hit his free throws to put the Chaps up by 10.
 
Less than three minutes into the second half, however, the Hilltoppers had closed the gap and were leading by one thanks to a Spears jumper. Daniels responded with his lone three-pointer of the game at the 16:48 mark, but it would be the last Chap lead for more than 10 minutes.
 
SEU was never up by more than five points, but they either led or the game was tied until there was 4:54 left in the game. The largest Hilltopper lead of five points came right at the 5:55 mark, but was followed by back-to-back Chap three-pointers from Muhammad and Parker Hicks to put LCU back on top and set up a tense final four minutes.
 
Three free throws put the Hilltoppers back up by two with 3:53 left in the game, but it would be the last time they had a lead, as Muhammad was fouled on a jumper that he made, putting the Chaps on top and into the bonus.
 
St. Edward's pulled back within one with 1:29 left thanks to back-to-back Krafka layups, but Daniels responded with a jumper. Spears missed a three-pointer that would have tied the game with 47 seconds left, and with the clock working against them SEU began to foul LCU. Copley and Ty Caswell combined to hit all six free throw attempts to close out the win.
 
Copley and Caswell both finished in double-figures with 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Hicks added in 13. Caswell was also the team's leading rebounder with 10, giving him his team-leading second double-double of the year.
 
TURNING POINT
Following a pair of free throws from Spears with 3:53 left in the game that put SEU up by two, LCU's Muhammad scored seven straight points and recorded a steal, putting the Chaps up by five two minutes later.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
St. Edward's shot 56.9 percent overall, including 66.7 percent in the second half, despite hitting only 6-22 (27.3 percent) from behind the arc. LCU has not had an opponent shoot better than 56.9 percent since January 4, 2016, when Dallas Baptist went 33-52 (63.5 percent) from the field. The last time an LCU opponent shot that well in a Chap win was January 19, 2013, when No. 5 Rogers State visited the Rip Griffin Center and also shot 56.9 percent but was upset by Lubbock Christian 92-87.
 
NEXT UP
The road gets no easier for the Chaps, as they will next travel to take on division-leading Texas A&M-Commerce at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Commerce, Texas.