LUBBOCK, Texas (February 5, 2022) – Lubbock Christian University suffered its first loss of the 2021-22 season on Saturday afternoon, falling 75-73 against Dallas Baptist.
 
DBU (15-7, 8-2) shot 52.9 percent from the field and 54.4 percent from behind the arc, including a scorching 7-10 on three-pointers in the second half, and the Chaps (20-1, 8-1) still had a chance to win the game or force overtime on the final play.
 
With less than a minute to go, DBU's Carson Hughes nailed a contested three-pointer, and when Parker Hicks missed his own attempt on the other end, it seemed as though the Patriots were in control because the Chaps were forced to foul. Julian Miranda missed the front end of a one-and-one though, and Lloyd Daniels drilled a three on the other side with less than 30 seconds left.
 
Daniels scored a layup 15 seconds later after Miranda split free throws, and he split again with 13 seconds left, giving the Chaps one last shot to tie or take the lead. The ball came around to Daniels on the left wing and he got up a contested three, but a buzzer-beater just wasn't in the cards for LCU.
 
The Patriots just held on to win, despite starting the game much better than the Chaps. By the time the first media timeout took place, DBU had scored 13 points and led LCU by eight points.
 
Lubbock Christian slowly found its shooting stroke though, getting back-to-back three-pointers from Daniels and Ty Caswell to pull within four. DBU pushed the lead back out to nine with 5:47 left in the first half, but LCU pushed back again, and two straight Daniels layups with just under two minutes left in the half. Both teams split free throws in the last minute, and the scored was tied at 37 at the break.
 
The Chaps actually shot the ball pretty well themselves in the second half, hitting 51.9 percent from the field and 41.7 percent on three-pointers, but the Patriots just couldn't miss from behind the arc.
 
Even still, LCU managed to take an early second half lead at 49-47, when Cameron Copley hit a three-pointer from the wing.
 
DBU distanced themselves in the middle part of the half with a 13-2 run and even led by double-figures with just 8:25 left to play, but LCU came right back with a 7-0 run of their own to set up the tense final two minutes of action.
 
TURNING POINT
Lubbock Christian had pulled within two points with 1:18 left to play on a pair of Parker Hicks free throws, and DBU called a timeout on the ensuing possession. The Chaps played tough defense and kept the ball outside, where the Patriots got the ball to Hughes. He was several feet behind the three-point line, but rose and shot anyway, drilling a three-pointer to give DBU a little breathing room in the final minute.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
25 | Parker Hicks led the Chaps with 25 points, scoring more than 20 points for the third straight game
21 | Lloyd Daniels also surpassed the 20-point mark for the third straight game, going 8-14 from the field, including 3-6 from behind the arc
9 | For the second-straight game, Zach Stepp set a new career-high in rebounds, this time tying for the team lead with nine in 32 minutes on the floor
11 | Ty Caswell had 11 points off the bench, reaching double-figures for the first time this season
 
NEXT UP
The Chaps will face a quick turnaround, as they host Texas A&M-International at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Rip Griffin Center in a makeup of the game originally scheduled for Jan. 2.