SILVER CITY, N.M. (February 6, 2025) – Lubbock Christian senior forward Sean Murphy was the only player on the team to reach double-figures on Thursday night at Drag's Court, but his career-high 30 points led LCU past Western New Mexico 61-53.
 
Murphy's previous single-game high at LCU was 20, scored against Western Washington on Dec. 19. His collegiate career-high was 25 points, which came on Feb. 22, 2024 when he was playing at Nebraska-Kearney. He surpassed that with 13 made baskets on 22 attempts (,590) and four made free throws. 
 
The New Zealand native added 11 rebounds, which also the Chaparrals (17-6, 12-3) and gave him his second double-double of the year.  Amondo Miller Jr. helped out with nine points and nine rebounds and Najeeb Muhammad chipped in with eight points, six of which came in the second half.
 
Lubbock Christian's defense held Western New Mexico to only 28.6 percent shooting from the field. Mustang Matthew Okoye, who was previously averaging 14.8 points per game, was limited to just eight on 3-of-14 shooting.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After falling behind 8-7, Lubbock Christian went on an 8-0 run with 12:36 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Murphy, to take a 15-8 lead. The Mustangs responded with a run of their own and had tied the game up at 18-all with less than seven minutes in the opening period.
 
WNMU got up by as many as four and was still leading by one at the break.
 
The game was tight to start the second half until Lubbock Christian managed to gain control and had a 44-42 lead before going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Miller Jr.'s jumper, to grow the lead to 50-42 with 4:32 to go in the contest.
 
With 3:41 left in the game, LCU seemed poised to close out the win, leading by nine after Murphy tipped in a missed jumper. But the Mustangs scored four straight points and called a timeout down just five just a minute later.
Miller Jr. made an and-one layup on the other end though, and although the Mustangs kept scoring in the final two minutes, they were forced to foul the Chaps went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe to finish the game.
 
GAME NOTES
» The Chaps limited the Mustangs to just 28.6 percent shooting, which is their lowest mark of the season. When WNMU visited the Rip Griffin Center earlier this season, they shot a season-high 50.9 percent from the field.
» Murphy's 30 points are the most in a game by a Chap this season. The last time an LCU player scored 30 or more in a game was Feb. 29, 2024, when Tiras Morton had 35 against West Texas A&M.
» Lubbock Christian had a 39-38 edge on the boards in the win. It is the 11^th time this season the Chaps have out-rebounded an opponent, and they are 10-1 in those contests.
» The Chaps made just one three-pointer in the game, going 1-for-15 from behind the arc. It is the second time this season they have hit just one three-pointer, although the previous time was in a loss to Angelo State.
» LCU was 14-of-17 from the free throw line, shooting better than 80 percent for the fifth straight game and the 13^th time this season.
 

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