TYLER, Texas (December 4, 2024) – Ethan Duncan hit a dagger jumper with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter to put Lubbock Christian up 53-46 as the Chaparrals earned a come-from-behind win, 59-51, against the UT-Tyler Patriots on the road Wednesday.
 
The Chaparrals (6-3, 2-1) had two players score in double figures, led by Duncan, who had 23 points. Fifteen of those points came from behind the arc, where he was 5-for-7 on the night while also pulling down four rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists.
 
Aaron Gonzales scored 11 points off the bench and Jaylen Thompson added seven points, two steals and two blocks.
 
The Chaps did not shoot it well overall though, hitting just 36.4 percent of their attempts in the win. It was their lowest shooting percentage in a win this season, as was their 34.8 percent three-point percentage.
 
Defensively though, they blocked five shots, forced 12 turnovers and limited the hosting Patriots to just 41.8 percent shooting, including only 33.3 percent in the second half. LCU also committed just nine fouls in the entire game, limiting UT Tyler to just two free throw attempts.
 
The win was a milestone for head coach Todd Duncan. It was the 250^th victory of his career at LCU. Since taking over the program in 2011, Duncan has amassed a career record of 250-137 (.646). He joins former coach/athletic director John Copeland as the only Chaparral head coaches to reach the 250-win mark.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game started about as poorly as it could for the Chaps, who made just one field goal in the first nine minutes of the game. They trailed by as many as 16  and were still behind 25-10 with 3:43 left in the half when a Gonzales sparked a 9-0 run – scoring eight of those points himself – to cut the deficit to just six at the break.
 
UT Tyler was able to cling to its lead for the first five minutes of the second half as LCU inched closer until Najeeb Muhammad hit a layup and was fouled. His ensuing made free throw put the Chaps in front for the first time all game.
 
The game see-sawed back and forth for the next five minutes until Gonzales drilled another three-pointer with 9:15 left that put the Chaps on top for good. UTT pulled within a point one more time with three minutes left and looked to have gotten a stop on the other end, but Gonzales grabbed an offensive rebound and Thompson made a layup to give LCU some breathing room.
 
Duncan's dagger jumper with 1:05 left just about put the game out of reach, and he and Thompson hit free throws down the stretch to close out the win.
 
GAME NOTES
» Duncan scored 18 of his team-leading 23 points in the second half, marking the fourth time this season he has reached double-figures in the final 20 minutes of play.
» The Lubbock Christian bench made an impact by adding 21 points to its scoring output.
» Lubbock Christian got a game-high nine rebounds from Ty Caswell. It is the third straight game Caswell has led the team in rebounding.
» The last time LCU won a game while shooting lower than 40 percent from the field was in the LSC Tournament last season when they shot 35.6 percent in a 50-48 win against Texas A&M International.
 

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