LAS VEGAS (December 19, 2024) – Lubbock Christian's defense was on full display Thursday night, limiting Western Washington to 35 percent shooting overall, including 13.6 percent from behind the arc on the way to a 75-63 win against the Vikings at South Point Arena in its first game of the Holiday Hoops Classic.
 
The Chaparrals (8-3, 2-1) had four players score in double-figures, led by Sean Murphy, who had 20 points, six rebounds and two blocks all off the bench. Las Vegas native Najeeb Muhammad was also a force all over the court in his return home, scoring 18 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out seven assists.
 
Amondo Miller Jr. helped out with 13 points and eight rebounds and Ethan Duncan added in 12 points.
 
LCU struggled to shoot the three as well, although not as mightily as WWU. The Chaps were only 4-of-17 from beyond the arc, which is their second-lowest mark in a game this season and their lowest in a win since two seasons ago, when they beat UT Tyler 58-48 despite shooting just 25 percent on threes.
 
Lubbock Christian made up for the lackluster long-range shooting by dominating inside the arc. They shot 55.6 percent on two-pointers and picked up 48 points in the paint. They scored 22 of their 31 first half points close to the basket and 26 of 44 in the final 20.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was battle throughout most of the first half with neither team leading by more than four until Lubbock Christian went on a 6-0 run with 2:54 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Duncan, to increase its lead to 31-24, a score that would hold until halftime.

The Chaps got the first nine points of the second half as well to go up by double-digits and even stretched the lead as wide as 18 on a fastbreak layup by Miller Jr. LCU was still up by= 15 with 13:49 left to play when the Vikings began to claw back, using a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to single-digits.
 
WWU got as close as six with 6:57 left in the game, but LCU responded with an an 8-0 run, finished off by Duncan's three, to grow the lead back to 14 with 4:30 to go in the contest. The Chaps kept Western Washington at arms-length the rest of the way.
 
GAME NOTES
» The Chaparrals held the Vikings to only 35.2 percent shooting from the field. It is the second-lowest opponent shooting percentage of the season, behind only the 27.8 percent performance by Missouri Western in the season-opener.
» Lubbock Christian tallied 15 total assists in the game on 30 made baskets.
» Western Washington was limited to 13.6 percent shooting from behind the arc, including 0-11 in the first half. It is the lowest percentage an opponent has shot on three-pointers since Feb. 3, 2022, when Midwestern State shot just 11.8 percent (2-17).
» The Chaparrals were active in affecting shots on the defensive end, tallying five blocks as a team.
» WWU pulled down 22 offensive rebounds on the way to 21 second-chance points. It is the most LCU has allowed in a single-game since at least the 2014-15 season, which was the start of the Chaps' Division II era and is as far back as records are available.
» Lubbock Christian got a team-high eight rebounds from Amondo Miller Jr. It is the fourth time this season he has led the Chaps in rebounding.

This article was partially created using technology provided by Data Skrive.