LUBBOCK, Texas (February 11, 2021) – Lubbock Christian University's men's basketball team returned to the Rip Griffin Center in style with an 80-65 win over Western New Mexico on Thursday night.
 
The Chaparrals (13-0, 12-0) shot a season-high 58.1 percent from the field, as well as a season-high 60.9 percent from behind the arc. The three-point percentage was LCU's highest in a single game since they shot 63.6 percent in a 68-65 win against West Texas A&M on Dec. 6, 2018.
 
It was a three-pointer from Parker Hicks that opened the game for LCU and put them on top from the start. Before the first media timeout, Rowan Mackenzie and Ty Caswell had also hit from behind the arc.
 
Caswell ended up leading the team with four made three-pointers, scoring all of his points from behind the arc. Hicks and Lloyd Daniels had three apiece, and Gonzalo Corbalaln was 2-2 from long range.
 
It was a pair of free throws from Corbalan at the 15:00 mark that first put the Chaps up by 10 points. WNMU cut the lead back to six, but a quick 7-0 run by the Chaps, including four points from Ben Janssan, increased the gap back to 13.
 
A thundering dunk from Jalen Brattain, a three-pointer from Daniels and another layup from Corbalan got the Chaps up by 18. Brattain was one of the five Chaparrals to finish in double-figures with 10 points. Daniels, Hicks and Corbalan all led the team with 15 points apiece, while Caswell chipped in 12.
 
Before the opening half ended, the Chaps had pushed the lead all the way out to 23 points. The last bucket before the break belonged to Hicks, as he drilled a three from the corner as the shot clock expired with just under a minute to go. LCU's defense stopped WNMU on their ensuing possession.
 
Daniels hit a layup to open the half and push the Chap lead to 25 points, but that was when the Mustangs made their push. They scored 16 points over the next six minutes while the LCU offense went into a stall and scored just one point in that time. By the 14:26 mark, WNMU trailed by just 10 points.
 
Hicks finally broke through by making all three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt, and the Chaparrals then rattled off 12 straight points to push the lead back out to 22 points.
 
Lubbock Christian kept the lead close to the 20-point mark for nearly the entire rest of the game. Western New Mexico made an 8-0 run in the last two minutes to cut their deficit to just 15, but it was too little, too late.
 
TURNING POINT
WNMU's Cash Williams hit a three-pointer just over five minutes into the second half, bringing the Mustangs within 10 after a Chaparral cold streak on offense. Hicks righted the ship at the free throw line before LCU rattled off 12 straight points to take back control of the game.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
LCU's 60.8 percent shooting from behind the arc may have been their highest mark in more than two years, but the Mustangs out-did them, hitting 8-of-13 (61.5 percent). It marked their highest percentage from behind the are since Nov. 14, 2018, when they hit 66.7 percent (6-9) against New Mexico Highlands.
 
NEXT UP
Second verse, same as the first, as Lubbock Christian and Western New Mexico will face off again at the same time and place on Friday.