LUBBOCK, Texas (January 11, 2025) – Lubbock Christian fell behind early, closed the gap to two late, but could not complete the comeback win on Saturday, losing 81-76 to Western New Mexico inside the Rip Griffin Center.
 
Ethan Duncan led the Chaparrals (11-5, 6-2) with 28 points, four assists and two steals. Miller Jr. tacked on 15 points and Sean Murphy chipped in with his second double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and pulling down  10 rebounds.
 
Western New Mexico shot its season-high from the field at 50.9 percent while the Chaps shot just 39.7 percent – only the fourth time this season they have shot below 40 percent.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Mustangs shot it well from the start, drilling back-to-back three-point attempts to start the game. LCU took a brief lead early on at 12-11, but WNMU responded with an 8-0 run to go back on top 20-12. LCU see-sawed back in front at 21-20 with a nine-point run of their own. It would be their last lead of the game.

Lubbock Christian stayed close for most of the rest of the first half, thanks in large part to a pair of three-pointers from Duncan and tough play inside from Murphy, who did the majority of his scoring in the opening period. WNMU ended the half on a 5-0 run though and led by six at the break.

Western New Mexico kept widening its lead after intermission, using an 8-2 run at the start of the half to push the lead to double figures for the first time. The has as large as a 59-46 advantage with 9:11 before Lubbock Christian made its comeback attempt. Aidan Wall was a key part of the Mustangs' ability to widen the lead and hold off LCU, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the final 20 minutes, including a 3-for-5 performance behind the arc.

The Chaps went on a 11-0 run, finished off by a Duncan three, to shrink the deficit to 59-55 with 5:29 to go in the contest, but Carson Kelly responded with a three of his own on the other end.
WNMU got into the bonus shortly after and went 10-10 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
GAME NOTES
» Ethan Duncan led the Chaparrals with a game-high 28 points. It is his sixth game of the season with at least 20 points and the 15^th of his LCU career.
» LCU forced 16 turnovers and scored 23 points off those. Najeeb Muhammad led the way with three steals.
» Duncan attempted 24 field goals, which matched the LCU Rip Griffin Center record, set by James Omondi on Feb. 24, 2001 against St. Gregory's. The Chaparral record overall is 29 by Rick Russwurm on Feb. 13, 1972.
» The Chaps were out-rebounded 39-29 in the game. It is the third time this season they have been out-rebounded by double-figures.
» Lubbock Christian is now 1-4 in games played on Saturday this season. The one win was against Arlington Baptist on Nov. 30. They are 10-1 on all other days of the week.
 

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