By james art
CANYON, Texas (November 1, 2024) – Led by 65 percent shooting from three-point range, the Lubbock Christian men’s basketball team defeated the Missouri Western State Griffons 88-48 at First United Bank Center on Friday.
The 40-point margin of victory was LCU’s largest against a Division II opponent since Feb. 24, 2024, when they beat Western New Mexico by 54 points.
The Chaparrals (1-0) had three players score in double figures, led by Ty Caswellwho had 18 points off the bench. It was 37th Caswell’s career double-digit performance at LCU and his fifth time leading the Chaps in scoring.
Amondo Miller Jr scored 16 points and Najeeb Mohammed assisted with 15 points.
Lubbock Christian’s offense was impressive from three-point land, draining 13 threes out of 20 attempts. Caswell hit four treys for the Chaparrals in the contest.
LCU’s defense was effective in taking away the basketball in Friday’s game as well, forcing 16 Missouri Western State turnovers while committing nine. Those leads translated into 22 points at the other end of the field. Jaylen Thompson two steals led individually for the Chaparrals and he led the team with seven boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a tight first seven minutes that were back and forth, Caswell hit a 3-pointer to spark an 11-0 Chaparral run that put them up 24-11. Lubbock Christian went on another 11-0 run with 3:48 left in the first half, culminating in a 3-pointer by Caswell to extend its lead to 45-22.
The Chaps kept their lead intact before going on a 10-0 run capped by To Alex Anamekue jumper to extend the lead to 59-29 with 13:21 to go in the contest. They continued to widen the gap and held on the rest of the way for an 88-48 victory.
Redshirt freshman Dylan Walker got his first collegiate playing time late in the game and hit a 3-pointer with 2:28 left for his first college points. Reagan Fiedler also got his first collegiate minutes and recorded an assist and a tackle.
After lighting it up from deep in the first half, LCU took care of business in the paint over the final 20 minutes, scoring 24 of its 43 points in the lane.
GAME NOTES
» Most of LCU’s hot shooting from behind the arc came in the first half, when they went 8-for-9.
» Their 65 percent mark from behind the arc for the entire game would have been second best among games last season, behind only 70.6 percent shooting from deep on Feb. 22.
» The Chaparrals held the Griffons to just 27.8 percent shooting from the field.
» Lubbock Christian totaled 20 assists in the game. They only had 20 or more assists twice last season, both against NAIA programs.
» Lubbock Christian had a 36-28 advantage on the boards in the win.
» Lubbock Christian’s defense forced 16 turnovers.
This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.