LUBBOCK, Texas (March 13, 2022) – The season certainly didn't end the way they wanted it to, but the Lubbock Christian University men's basketball team fought all the way until the end, coming up just short in a 63-62 loss against Colorado Mesa on Sunday at the Rip Griffin Center.
 
Lubbock Christian's 2021-22 season comes to an end with a number of records and program firsts set throughout the year. The Chaps started the season 20-0, setting the school mark for best start, and they went on to win 27 games which is also a new program record. LCU also spent the majority of the season in the top-10 nationally, including two months at No. 1, which was a program first. Seniors Parker Hicks and Lloyd Daniels were All-Conference First Team selections and led the Chaps to a second-straight LSC regular season championship.
 
Struggling offensively all night, the Chaps were down by their largest margin – 12 points – with just 8:25 left in the game. Hicks made a three on the other end and it sparked the LCU offense to a quick 8-0 run. They kept pushing, getting more defensive stops and eventually tying the game on a three-pointer by Jalen Brattain with the shot clock about to expire with 3:50 left in the game.
 
Lubbock Christian even took a lead and was still ahead by one with less than a minute to go when CMU's Trevor Baskin made a layup to put his team on top. The Chaps missed on the other end, and LCU was forced to foul to stop the clock. After the free throws, LCU got the ball down the floor and Rowan Mackenzie was fouled shooting a three, giving them one final chance to send the game to overtime. A miss on the middle attempt allowed Colorado Mesa to leave victorious.
 
Four Chaparral players finished in double-figures despite a rough shooting night. Hicks led all scorers with 21 points in his final game for LCU, despite not being on the floor for the final eight minutes of the first half due to getting two quick fouls called on him. Brattain had a strong night, scoring 14 and grabbing seven rebounds. Mackenzie finished with 11 and Aamer Muhammad had 10 points.
 
Colorado Mesa got out in front early with five quick points to start the game, but the Chaps quickly got back into the game and tied things up at 7-all on a Brattain three-pointer. LCU was able to take and maintain a lead but never pushed the gap wider than three points. They still led by three heading into the final minute of the half, but Jared Small got to the free throw line and made both and on the final possession of the half, CMU missed a jumper but tipped in the put back to take a one point lead into the locker room.
 
The shooting woes continues in the second half for the Chaps, especially behind the arc, where they were 2-12 in the final period, which is what allowed the Mavericks to build up a lead before the Chaps' furious comeback attempt in the game's final eight minutes.
 
TURNING POINT
Probably the biggest sequence of the game came with just under two minutes to go. LCU had pulled back in front by two and got an initial defensive stop on the other end of the floor. The rebound tipped off the hands of two Chaps but fell to a CMU player. The Mavericks swung the ball to Jared Small, who had missed his last three three-point attempts, but found the bottom of the net on this one to turn a deficit into a lead.