LCU routs LSC East leader St. Edward's
Lubbock Christian University coach Todd Duncan and his basketball staff say they are as friendly and close with Andre Cook and the St. Edward's staff as any other in the Lone Star Conference.
"About 363 or 364 days a year, we're pretty tight," Duncan said, "so it's hard to sometimes go at each other."
Lately, the Chaparrals haven't shown their cordial side much.
LCU pounded St. Edward's, the LSC East Division leader, 82-57 Thursday night at the Rip Griffin Center in the Chaps' best performance of the season. St. Edward's suffered its worst loss since ... the last time the Hilltoppers came to Lubbock and lost 87-60 in January 2022.
More often in Cook's 14 seasons at SEU and Duncan's 12 seasons at LCU, their teams have played close games, and Thursday's shaped up that way, too. LCU (17-8, 13-6) snapped a five-game win streak by St. Edward's (20-8, 14-5), getting a meaningful victory for Division II NCAA Tournament consideration.
"We've always felt like our best basketball was ahead of us," Duncan said. "We've shown it in glimpses, but never for 40 minutes. I thought tonight was probably as close to a 40-minute performance as we've had, especially when you consider how good the opponent is."
The Chaps were up 35-16 less than 15 minutes into the game and 50-24 at halftime.
LCU shot 55 percent, getting 20 points from Rowan Mackenzie, 16 from Russell Harrison and 15 from Kurt Wegscheider. Point guard Najeeb Muhammad had 11 points and nine rebounds.
The win came at an opportune time for LCU, which lost both stops on a road trip last week at Western New Mexico and Eastern New Mexico.
Duncan said Cook was one of the first people to reach out to him after the tough road trip. The Chaps took care of the rest.
"I felt like our guys showed a lot of maturity, a lot of toughness, a lot of grit," Duncan said, "to absorb that kind of pain and turn it into focus and extra effort."
LCU women 55, SEU 29
Grace Foster had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Lubbock Christian University rolled over St. Edward's, holding the Hilltoppers to a 15-year low in points.
Maci Maddox and Shaylee Stovall added eight points apiece for LCU (19-8, 14-5), which won its fourth game in a row.
St. Edward's (13-14, 9-10) suffered its lowest-scoring game since a 53-26 loss on Jan. 7, 2008 at Angelo State. Jayda Ruffus-Milner led the Hilltoppers with 11 points.
"It was a solid defensive effort," LCU coach Steve Gomez said. "They've got some players that can score, a solid team, but we limited them. We didn't allow them to do, individually, what they maybe wanted to do, and they missed some shots. Some of it's good defense. Some of it's (being) fortunate."
LCU hosts St. Mary's at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first game of a women's/men's doubleheader. With three games left in the regular season, the Lady Chaps lead the LSC West Division with a 10-2 division record. Angelo State (21-5, 16-4) is 10-3 in the division, and West Texas A&M (19-8, 12-7) is 8-4.
The West Division and East Division winners, based on division record, get the top two seeds in the conference tournament.
"Obviously, there's some incentive to play well for that," Gomez said. "We've got to turn around Saturday and try to give ourselves that chance again."
WBU women 73
USAO 71
PLAINVIEW — Kaitlyn Edgemon scored 26 points, Jenna Cooper-Jackson backed her with 20 and Wayland Baptist knocked off 18th-ranked University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma in a battle between two of the Sooner Athletic Conference's top teams.
Wayland (18-9, 14-7) won its sixth game in a row. USAO (22-5, 16-5) lost for the third time in five games. Diaka Berete scored 22 points for the Drovers, including 15 in the fourth quarter. USAO cut a 40-23 deficit in the third quarter to 54-53 with less than five minutes left in the game.
USAO men 86
Wayland 85
PLAINVIEW — Samkelo Cele scored 27 points, including a go-ahead layup with 30 seconds left that provided the final margin as the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma rallied past Wayland Baptist in SAC play.
Gerard Makuntae added 22 points for USAO (16-11, 13-8), which trailed 81-72 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the game. The comeback snapped a 10-game win streak by Wayland (20-7, 15-6), the Pioneers' longest since they won 12 in a row in the 1990-91 season.
R.J. Mason led Wayland with 13 points and seven assists. Parrish Hewitt and Tedrick Wolfe scored 12 points apiece, Manny Crump added 11 and Jaxon Recer chipped in 10.
New Mexico JC 59
SPC women 42
LEVELLAND — Delma Zita scored 17 points and No. 23 New Mexico Junior College downed Western Junior College Athletic Conference leader South Plains College, snapping the Lady Texans' nine-game win streak.
Madina Camara added 14 points for NMJC (20-4, 9-2), which handed South Plains (15-8, 9-1) its first loss since Jan. 7. The Lady Texans beat the Lady Thunderbirds 63-57 in the first round of WJCAC play in Hobbs, New Mexico.
South Plains shot 35 percent in the return matchup. Vitoria Carvalho led the Lady Texans with 12 points, followed by Matilda Soderlund with 10.
SPC men 73
New Mexico JC 71
LEVELLAND — Christian Coleman had 19 points and 11 rebounds and No. 16 South Plains College outlasted New Mexico Junior College, withstanding a Thunderbirds comeback from 11 points down in the second half.
Jaden Harris scored 16 for South Plains (21-5, 9-3). Harris gave the Texans a 61-50 lead on a 3-point goal just inside the 10-minute mark, but Logan McLaughlin gave the Thunderbirds (11-15, 4-8) leads of 65-63 and 67-65, the latter with 4:39 to go.
Coleman made one of two free throws to put SPC up 70-69 at the 51-second mark and a Harris basket with 23 seconds left made it 72-69.
Antwaun Massey finished with 15 points for NMJC, and Ismail Habib had 13 for SPC.
SATURDAY'S AREA SCHEDULE
Women
St. Mary's (7-18, 3-16) at Lubbock Christian University (19-8, 14-5), 1 p.m.
No. 18 Texas Wesleyan (24-3, 19-2) at Wayland Baptist (18-9, 14-7), 2 p.m.
Men
St. Mary's (14-10, 11-8) at Lubbock Christian University (17-8, 13-6), 3 p.m.
Texas Wesleyan (13-13, 10-10) at Wayland Baptist (20-7, 15-6), 4 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Area college basketball roundup: LCU routs LSC East leader St. Edward's
