LUBBOCK, Texas - Lubbock Christian shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half, as the Chaps pulled away from UTPB for their sixth straight victory, knocking off the Falcons 69-55 on Saturday, Feb. 4.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the opening segment, before a pair of layups by Max Warren and Jalen King gave Texas Permian Basin (11-15, 5-12 LSC) a 12-4 advantage. Russell Harrison got the Chaps (16-6, 12-4) back in the ballgame, draining a pair of shots from beyond the arc to cut the score to 12-10 with 14:44 left in the first half. 

Back-to-back three-pointers from DaJuan Jones and Daniel Moody put the Falcons ahead 18-10, but five straight points from Rowan Mackenzie lowered the deficit to 18-15 with 9:52 remaining in the opening stanza. Harrison made another from three, and an old-fashioned three-point play with a conversion from the charity stripe by Mackenzie gave LCU a 26-24 lead with 3:57 left in the first. Warren tied the game late in the first, and an Aaron Gonzales three with just over a minute left in the first half gave LCU a 29-28 lead at halftime.

Lubbock Christian opened the second half with five straight makes from the free throw line, and threes from Harrison and Kendall Dow swelled the Chap advantage to 42-33. Najeeb Muhammad scored the next five points for the Chaparrals, and LCU took a 47-35 lead with 12:05 remaining in the game. 

Fletcher MacDonald and Harrison both connected on back-to-back and-1 plays, and then six straight points from Harrison pushed LCU ahead 60-45 with 5:36 left in the game. Muhammad scored the next six points for Lubbock Christian, and Dow nailed another three-pointer to punctuate a 40-point second half for the Chaps, knocking off Texas Permian Basin 69-55 for their sixth straight win.

LCU held UTPB to 15.4 percent (2-for-13) from three. It's the lowest mark from deep for a team against the Chaps from deep since Midwestern State shot just 11.8 percent (2-for-17) from beyond the arc in a 66-52 win for the Chaps almost a year ago to the day on Feb. 3, 2023. 

Harrison led the Chaps with 27 points, shooting 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) from the floor, and 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) from three. The Lubbock native now sits just four points away from 2,000 career points across four different schools (Wayland Baptist, Clarendon College, ULM, Lubbock Christian). He also flirted with a double-double, pulling down nine rebounds and dishing out three assists.

Muhammad scored 11 points, dishing out four assists. Mackenzie also scored 11 points, pulling down five rebounds. Mackenzie is now 11 points away from 1,000 in his career. 

Warren led UTPB with 17 points and six rebounds. 

Lubbock Christian returns to the road, heading west to Silver City to face Western New Mexico in a West Division rematch. Tip-off is set for 8:30 PM on Thursday, Feb. 9.