After starting the contest with high energy and intensity, the UTPB men’s basketball team couldn’t hold off No. 1 Lubbock Christian Saturday at the Falcon Dome.
The Chaps took advantage a brief lull from the Falcons in the second half to come away with an 80-73 win in Lone Star Conference play.
“It was the first time we kind of felt like we competed for a whole week since we’ve been back from Christmas,” UTPB coach Kyle Tolin said. “I thought our effort was really good, they’re a good team.
“We gave ourselves a chance to compete in the game and a chance to win, I thought.”
The Falcons didn’t let Lubbock Christian pull too far ahead during the first half, going into the break trailing by two points.
Rowan Mackenzie gave the Chaps their largest lead of the opening period, scoring a contested layup to put his team up by seven points with 4:55 remaining until halftime.
Lemmie Howard and Jordan Horn played pivotal roles in helping the Falcons keep things close, combining for eight of UTPB’s points in the final three minutes of the half.
Lubbock Christian opened the second half using its speed to go up by six points, slowly distancing itself from the Falcons.
One of the largest momentum swings in the game took place about nine minutes after the players came out of the locker room when a technical foul was called against UTPB’s Max Warren.
The Chaps built up their largest lead of the contest shortly after that, when Lloyd Daniels converted a 3-point play to put the Chaps up by 14 with a little over 11 minutes left in regulation.
“That’s not the way we operate, that obviously shifted momentum,” Tolin said.
The Falcons needed an 8-0 scoring run, spearheaded by Miles Daniels, to cut the deficit back down to single digits.
Lubbock Christian (19-0 overall, 7-0 conference) used timely baskets the rest of the way to secure the win, holding off a late effort from the Falcons that saw them cut the Chaps’ lead to five points with six seconds left.
Horn led UTPB with a game-high 22 points, followed closely by Miles Daniels with 21.
The Chaps had three players score 20 or more points, with Parker Hicks scoring 21 to pace the team.
Tolin felt that his scoring leaders played like experienced veterans and gave UTPB a chance to compete until the end.
The head coach said his team had a better week in preparation for its game against Lubbock Christian and it was a positive sign seeing how close his players were on the scoreboard.
“We’re close, we tried to put together a team basically in a seven-day period and [Lubbock Christian] has been together for years,” Tolin said. “They didn’t beat themselves tonight, you’re going to have to beat them and they didn’t beat themselves.”
The Falcons (11-9, 3-5) will play at Angelo State at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in San Angelo.
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
Lubbock Christian 80, UTPB 73
LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (19-0, 7-0 Lone Star Conference)
Parker Hicks 6-10 7-8 21, Jalen Brattain 3-9 0-0 6, Rowan Mackenzie 6-10 5-7 20, Aamer Muhammad 0-2 0-0 0, Lloyd Daniels 6-11 7-7 20, Ty Caswell 1-3 0-0 3, Cameron Copley 1-3 2-2 4, Aaron Gonzales 2-3 0-0 6, Karhan Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Stepp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 21-24 80.
UTPB (11-9, 3-5 Lone Star Conference)
Lemmie Howard 3-7 0-2 6, Miles Daniels 7-16 3-3 21, Keyon Craddock 2-7 2-2 8, Jordan Horn 8-13 2-3 22, Kendal Frey 3-5 2-2 10, Max Warren 1-5 0-2 2, Alvarez Powell 1-3 2-2 4, Zavon Godwin 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Burrell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-56 11-16 73.
Halftime — Lubbock Christian 36, UTPB 34. 3-Point goals — Lubbock Christian 9-22 (Hicks 2-4, Brattain 0-3, Mackenzie 3-5, Muhammad 0-1, Daniels 1-2, Caswell 1-3, Copley 0-2, Gonzales 2-2), UTPB 12-28 (Daniels 4-9, Craddock 2-6, Horn 4-9, Frey 2-4). Total fouls — Lubbock Christian 13, UTPB 23. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — UTPB (Warren). Rebounds — Lubbock Christian 26 (Brattain 6), UTPB 36 (Daniels, Horn, Powell 7). Assists — Lubbock Christian 15 (Copley 4), UTPB 11 (Craddock, Frey 3).
