LUBBOCK, Texas (January 16, 2020) – The win wasn't certain until Parker Hicks secured an offensive rebound as the last two seconds ticked off the clock, but the Lubbock Christian University men's basketball team beat Angelo State 69-66 Saturday night in the Rip Griffin Center, moving to 6-0 on the year.
 
Moving to 6-0 overall (and in Lone Star Conference play) give the Chaparrals their best start since the 2000-01 season when they began the year 9-0 and ended up advancing all the way to the Elite Eight of the NAIA Tournament.
 
Parker Hicks led the way, scoring a career-high 29 points while pulling down eight rebounds. His previous career high of 28 points came on Feb. 20, 2020 in a win over Texas A&M-International. Lloyd Daniels was the only other Chap to reach double-figures (16 points) as LCU struggled to shoot the ball and relied heavily on their defense to secure the win.
 
Angelo State was held to just 41.2 percent shooting, which is the second-lowest opponent field-goal percentage for the Chaps this season. Furthermore, the Rams only hit 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) from behind the arc. This was the fifth straight game the Chaps limited their opponent to less than 70 points, and the most they have allowed is 70, which happened in the season-opener against Oklahoma Christian.
 
The shooting woes started early for both Lubbock Christian and Angelo State. LCU hit only one of its first seven shots, while the Rams started 1-for-6, leading to a score of 4-2 at the first media timeout.
 
Hicks hit a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around a fast-break dunk from Gonzalo Corbalan, and the Chaps were able to open up a six-point lead. With a dunk from Hicks and a layup from Daniels, LCU was able to push the gap to double-digits for the first time with 8:20 to go.
 
The game looked to be going the way of Thursday night's matchup between these same two teams, when Lubbock Christian piled on offensively to earn an 18-point win. The Rams were able to grab some momentum just before halftime though, thanks to Burone Edwards. He hit a jumper with 19 seconds left and was fouled, making the ensuing free throw. Then the Chaps missed on their next offensive possession, and Edwards drilled a 3/4 -court heave at the buzzer, leaving LCU ahead by only four at the break.
 
ASU continued to push, pulling within one just over a minute into the second half before back-to-back buckets from Hicks and Cameron Copely gave the Chaps some breathing room. LCU got the lead back out to 10 points on a three-pointer from Daniels at the 14:20 mark, but a comfortable win was not in store.
 
After trailing by 5-7 points most of the half, Paul Williams hit a big three-pointer for the Rams with 4:07 left to play, setting up the tense final minutes. The Chaps never led by more than three the rest of the way, but they did all of their offensive work in the final four minutes from the free throw line.
 
Copley, Hicks and Aamer Muhammad were all calm and collected at the charity stripe as the clock wound down. Ty Caswell was fouled and stepped up with just two seconds left. He hit the first, putting LCU on top by three, and then missed the second, allowing Hicks to grab the rebound and secure the win.
 
TURNING POINT
Despite never trailing, the Chaps were never able to put the Rams away in this matchup. A momentum-changing run came early in the second half though. ASU looked to be getting into a rhythm offensively and pulled within one on a Kevon Godwin. LCU responded with a 9-1 run, stifling the Angelo State momentum that had been building since the last minute of the second half.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
After shooting a season-high 57.9 percent on Thursday night, Lubbock Christian shot a season-low 41.2 percent in Saturday's win. The last time the Chaps shot 41.2 percent or worse and still won was Jan. 4, 2020, when they beat UT Permian Basin 72-67, despite shooting only 37.7 percent from the field.
 
NEXT UP
The Chaps will remain at home for the next two games, hosting Texas A&M International for a pair of LSC games on Jan. 22 and 23.