CANYON, Texas (February 10, 2022) – Lubbock Christian University was up by as many as 23 points in the second half and survived a late push by West Texas A&M to win 85-76 Thursday night in the First United Bank Center.
 
The Chaps (22-1, 10-1 LSC) become the first team to sweep the Buffs (19-6, 6-5 LSC) both at home and on the road since the 2015-16 season. LCU also swept the regular season series that season, as did Midwestern State.
 
Four Lubbock Christian players finished the game in double-figures, led by Parker Hicks with 29. The Decatur native also pulled down 11 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. Lloyd Daniels also surpassed the 20-point mark with 23, shooting an incredibly efficient 66.7 percent from the field. Aaamer Muhammad added in 14, and Rowan Mackenzie added 11.
 
WT won the tip and scored first, but did not lead for long, as LCU scored the next six points to pull in front. The Buffs pushed back and led briefly again at 9-8, but the Chaps used another 6-0 burst to pull away again. West Texas A&M would not end up leading again.
 
Still the game stayed close for much of the rest of the half, and WT pulled within one a number of times, with LCU always answering on the offensive end. The Chap offense was firing on all cylinders, and shot 62.5 percent in the first 20 minutes. Daniels hit a jumper with 12 seconds before the break to put LCU up by six, which would have been a nice lead. But he wasn't done.
 
On the ensuing WT possession, the Chaps drew an offensive foul with four seconds left. In that time, Daniels got the ball and drove the floor, pump-faking once and draining a buzzer-beater three-pointer to put LCU ahead by nine.
 
Out of the break, Lubbock Christian stayed hot and scored the first 12 points, keeping the Buffs without a made field goal for nearly four minutes and pushing the lead out to 21 points overall.
 
The kept the lead around the 20-point mark for the next eight or so minutes and seemed to be running away with the game when it got to its widest margin of 23 with just 8:28 left to go. With just under seven minutes left though, WT kicked it into high gear.
 
They began to press on defense and forced the Chaps into several untimely turnovers. Kavon Booker hit a three-pointer with just under four minutes left and Julius Brown hit another to cut the Chap lead to just 11. With 1:25 left, Brown hit again from beyond the arc and cut the Buff deficit to single-digits for the first time in the second half.
 
Lubbock Christian had the clock on their side though, and the aggressive Buff defenders began to foul. The Chaps nailed clutch free throws in the final two minutes and left Canyon a winner for the second-straight year.
 
TURNING POINT
LCU went on a combined 17-0 run over the final two minutes of the first half and the first four of the second half, giving them the cushion they ended up needing to survive WT's furious comeback attempt.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Chaps shot a season-high 62.5 percent (30-48) from the field inside the First United Bank Center. It is their highest single-game shooting percentage since Feb. 27, 2021, when they shot 62.5 percent. That game was also against West Texas A&M in the First United Bank Center.
 
NEXT UP
Lubbock Christian will play its second-to-last road game of the season on Saturday traveling to take on Cameron in Lawton, Oklahoma.