LUBBOCK, Texas (December 6, 2021) – After a nine-day break, the Lubbock Christian University men's basketball team returned to play with a dominant 93-48 win against Oklahoma City on Monday night at the Rip Griffin Center.
 
Four Chap players finished in double-figures in the win, including 20 points each from Lloyd Daniels and Rowan Mackenzie. Daniels also had his second double-double of the season, but did it this time with 11 assists. Parker Hicks scored 16 points and Jalen Brattain had 10. The two forwards tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight apiece.
 
The game was pretty much put away in the first three minutes of play, as LCU opened the game on a 14-0 run. OCU took a timeout to try and regroup at the 17:25 mark and finally got on the scoreboard at the 16:33 mark with a three-pointer from Dadrian Hoambrecker. It was a rough night offensively for the Stars overall, as they were just 18-for-21 from the field (29.5 percent).
 
Nine of those first 14 points came from Mackenzie, whose 20 points were a season-high. The Aussie was incredibly efficient in his scoring, hitting on seven of his eight attempts. Six of those seven makes came from behind the arc for an .857 three-point shooting percentage, which matches the Rip Griffin Center record. His name will now go in the LCU record book alongside teammate Cameron Copley, who accomplished the same feat on Jan. 20, 2020, against Western New Mexico.
 
Although not an insurmountable lead so early in the game, the Lubbock Christian defense sure made it look that way. The Stars briefly cut the deficit to just eight points at the 15 minute mark, but a three from Mackenzie and back-to-back layups from Hicks and Zach Stepp, who made his first collegiate start Monday, got it back to double-digits.
 
Daniels hit a jumper with 3:26 left in the first half to get the lead to 20 points for the first time, and the Chaps were up by 23 at halftime.
 
Lubbock Christian actually shot the ball worse in the second half, hitting only 48.5 percent of their shots and 25 percent of their three-pointers. But the Stars shot worse too (22.9 percent), allowing the Chaps to pull way ahead.
 
Daniels pushed it past 30 less than three minutes into the second half with a three-pointer, and he was the one to get it to 40 too, hitting a jumper at the 9:34 mark. The widest the lead got was with three minutes and change left in the game, when all of the LCU starters had been removed. Brattain was fouled on a shot attempt and hit one of the ensuing free throws to put the Chaps up by 48.
 
LCU's 45-point margin of victory was their largest since Jan. 22, 2021, when they beat Texas A&M International by 48.
 
TURNING POINT
There was no looking back for the Chaps after the 14-0 run to start the game, giving them their sixth wire-to-wire win of the year.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 11 | Lloyd Daniels had 11 assists, becoming the first Chap with a double-double by way of points and assists since Marcus Arrington did so (10 points, 10 assists) on Nov. 21, 2015 against Our Lady of the Lake
18 | The Chaps finished with 47 rebounds compared to just 18 for the Stars, giving them their largest rebounding margin of the season
56.3 | LCU's 36-64 shooting performance was their most efficient of the season, surpassing the Nov. 13 game when they shot 55.4 percent against Colorado School of Mines
 
NEXT UP
Lubbock Christian will play its first road game in the continental U.S. on Saturday, as the will travel to Silver City, N. M. to take on Western New Mexico.