Lubbock Christian Men
Chaps want to keep success going By DAVE WOHLFARTH Sometimes, maybe often, the LCU men’s team gets lost in the success achieved by the women’s team. Like last year, for example. The Lady Chaps won their third Division II national championship in six years. Anybody remember how the Chaps did? Well, they did quite well, thank you. They won their first conference championship after years of coming close under Coach Todd Duncan. In fact, Duncan called it the best season in his 10 years at LCU. The Chaps won the Lone Star Conference with a sparkling 17-1 record, finished 18-3 overall and were 10 points shy of earning a berth in the Elite Eight. “We won the conference and made it to the Sweet 16,” Duncan said, “obviously in a very tough league, so we’re proud of that.” West Texas A&M was the thorn in LCU’s side. In a rather unusual twist, WT defeated the Chaps 82-78 at LCU’s Rip Griffin Center. Two days later, at WT, the Chaps upended the Buffs 103-85. “Through the years it always seems to be just one of those games where you know you’re going to have to play your best,” Duncan said. A few weeks later, in the South Central Coach Todd Duncan Regional finals, back in the Rip Griffin Center, WT prevailed 101-92. LCU shot 60 percent from the field that night, Parker Hicks scored 27 points and Lloyd Daniels 20 for the Chaps, but Qua Grant put in 40 for the Buffs. “You know, we didn’t have many turnovers, shot a high percentage,” Duncan said. “”They just had a couple of guys play really, really well. And so we could just never get over the hump. But they performed at a high level that game.” The Chaps won their first 16 games before losing that first
Lubbock Christian Chaps Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown Rowan Mackenzie, 6-3, G, Soph., Perth, Australia Parker Hicks, 6-6, F, Sr., Decatur, Texas Cameron Copley, 5-9, G, Jr., Canadian, Texas Jalen Brattain, 6-8, F, Fr., Shallowater, Texas Ben Janssan, 6-3, G, Jr., Adelaide, Australia Aaron Gonzales, 6-3, G, Fr., Spring, Texas Ty Caswell, 6-7, G/F, Soph., Wichita Falls, Texas Zach Stepp, 6-5, F, Sr., Lubbock, Texas Karhan Jones, 6-2, G, Fr., Mansfield, Texas Aamer Muhammad, 6-1, G, Soph., Rio Rancho, New Mexico Lloyd Daniels, 6-4, G, Sr., Colts Neck, New Jersey Alec Zambie, 6-6, F, Fr., Plano, Texas Coach: Tood Duncan Asst. Coach: Jason Imes 2020-2021 record: 18-3, 15-1 2021-2022 Panhandle-Plains Basketball
Lubbock Christian’s Parker Hicks goes to the basket last season. Hicks averaged 16.9 points and 7.3 rebounds a game for the Chaps. (LCU Athletics photo)
home game to WT, which later reached the DII national finals. LCU’s only other defeat was 72-71 to St. Edwards in the LSC postseason tournament. After many years of being on the doorstep, as Duncan called it, of the Heartland Conference back in their NAIA days, the Chaps finally took a conference crown. And the coach was proud of it. “We’ve been near the top, but we’ve never won it, so that was a big deal,” Duncan said. “The Lone Star Conference is just, top to bottom, I think the best Division II conference there is.” The Chaps had to endure a lot – tight conference scheduling and four postponements because of COVID – but they produced their best winning percentage season (.857) in the Duncan years. Two senior sharpshooters – Hicks and Daniels – led the way last season. Hicks, a 6-6 forward from Decatur who transferred from Texas Tech, averaged 16.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and almost 2 assists per game. He led LCU with 47 successful 3-pointers, shooting .452 from beyond the arc. He became LCU’s first men’s NABC Division II All-American and was NABC first-team all-district. “He’s versatile in that he’s a bigger player that can step out beyond the 3 and shoots it really well,” Duncan said. “So if he’s guarded by the other team’s biggest player, we can pull him away from the basket. If he has a smaller player on him, we can post him up. He can kinda score, you know, at all three levels: on the perimeter, mid-range and then at the basket. That makes a big difference.” What about Daniels? Maybe he isn’t a sharpshooter. He’s more of a crooked shooter. The 6-4 New Jersey native banged in 15.7 points, grabbed (Continued on next page)
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