COMMERCE, Texas (January 30, 2020) – Texas A&M-Commerce shot 60 percent from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes of Thursday night's game, but the Lubbock Christian men's basketball team survived that storm and used a second-half comeback to beat the Lions 88-76.
 
Trailing by seven with just over nine minutes to go, the Chaps kicked it into high gear, as Rashaan Proctor got to the free throw line and Parker Hicks hit a jumper to pull them within four. The Lions responded with a three-pointer to get the gap back out to seven, but LCU had gained some momentum. The Proctor and Hicks points turned into a 28-9 Lubbock Christian run to close out the game, putting LCU back on top and eventually giving them a comfortable 12-point victory.
 
Thirteen of those final 28 points were scored by junior guard Lloyd Daniels, who followed up his 25-point performance against St. Edward's last Saturday with a career-high 34points in the win over Texas A&M-Commerce. The New Jersey native added in three rebounds and two assists while shooting an efficient 10-17 from the field.
 
Lubbock Christian was forced into comeback mode because of the impressive shooting display put on by the Lions in the first half. After the Chaps opened up a 6-0 lead with three-pointers from Ty Caswell and Daniels, Texas A&M-Commerce went on to make their next seven field goal attempts, including four shots from behind the arc.
 
TAMUC's shooting inside the arc was not quite as good throughout the rest of the half, as they shot 46.9 percent overall, which was only half a percentage point better than LCU. The three-point performance was strong enough to have the Lions up by 10 as the two teams went into their locker rooms.
 
The Chaps returned the favor in the second half, hitting 66.7 percent of their three-pointers (6-9) and shooting 54.8 percent from the floor overall. They also shot well from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes, hitting almost 90 percent of their free throws.
 
Caswell hit back-to-back three-pointers with just under 17 minutes to play, cutting the TAMUC lead back to single-digits for good. The Lions continued to stay out in front, however, never letting the Chaps draw closer than five points and getting up by as many as eight again on a Wayne Stewart three-pointer with 11:03 left to play.
 
LCU's breakthrough finally came with seven minutes to go, as Aamer Muhammad, Parker Hicks and Daniels all hit three-pointers in between Chap defensive stops to tie the game at 72-all. The teams traded layups before Daniels put the Chaps on top for good with a bucket in the paint with 2:36 left to play. Lubbock Christian went 8-8 from the free throw line from there on out to close out the win.
Three other Chaps besides Daniels finished in double-figures. Proctor was second on the team with 18 and fell just one rebound short of a double-double. Five of his nine boards came on the offensive glass. Caswell did reach the double-double mark, and for the second game in a row. The Wichita Falls native grabbed 12 rebounds and scored 17 points. Hicks also fell a rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards and 11 points.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Lubbock Christian shot 54.8 percent from the field in the second half, raising their field-goal percentage for the game to 50.8 percent. It is the seventh time this season they have shot better than 50 percent in a game, winning each time. The Chaps are seventh in the Lone Star Conference with a season field-goal percentage of .466.
 
NEXT UP
LCU will journey further east to the rose capital of Texas, taking on UT Tyler at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the Patriot Center.