LUBBOCK, Texas -- Midwestern State can sweep the season series with Lubbock Christian but must rebound from an excruciating 62-61 loss at Oklahoma Christian. The Chaparrals were beaten by MSU earlier this season and are coming off a 74-71 loss to No. 4-ranked Dallas Baptist. Tip-off at the Rip Griffin Center is scheduled for Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.

Midwestern State (12-7, 6-7) fell to 4-3 on the road this season when Quinton Johnson drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with six seconds remaining at Oklahoma Christian on Saturday afternoon. Bakari LaStrap hit four 3-pointers to lead the Mustangs for the second consecutive game with 19 points. LaStrap also scored 19 in a narrow 79-77 victory at Arkansas-Fort Smith to begin the four-game road trip.

Midwestern State is the fourth-highest scoring team in the LSC with 83.7 points per game, but the Mustangs are allowing opponents to score 78.3 points per contest, which is 12th in the LSC.

Mason Gibson, who missed the last four games due to injury, is the leading scorer for MSU and eighth in the conference with 16.8 points per game. Gibson scored 31 points in his last game at Eastern New Mexico. The 6-0 sophomore guard from Allen, Texas, is averaging 21.2 points per game on the road this season. Gibson is 81 of 104 (.779) from the free-throw line and has accounted for the fourth-most points from the foul line in the LSC.

Pierre Sanders blocked a shot to secure a victory at Fort Smith and had his jump shot blocked in the waning seconds at Oklahoma Christian. Sanders is the second-leading scorer for MSU with 14.6 points per game. The 5-10 senior guard from Hutto, Texas, leads the conference with 5.2 assists per game and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the LSC at 2.97, which is 14th-best in the nation. Sanders is one of 10 players in NCAA Division II to post a triple-double this season. In a 108-104 double overtime win against St. Mary's on Nov. 18, Sanders had 14 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.

Will Shepherd is scoring 12.3 points per game for the Mustangs and is shooting 41.2 percent from beyond the arc this season (40 of 97). The 6-8 junior forward from Dallas, Texas, is shooting 41.2 percent from the floor (74 of 171) and 88.2 percent from the foul line (45 of 51). Shepherd has hit 25 of 26 free throws over his last seven games.

LaStrap has scored double-figures in each of his last five appearances and is averaging 16.4 points per game in that span. The 6-1 junior guard from Houston is averaging 12.1 points and 3.5 assists per game this season.

Reggie Hill is the leading rebounder for MSU with 6.9 boards per game. The 6-8 junior forward from Melbourne, Florida, is averaging 8.3 points per game and is shooting 48 percent from the field (48 of 100), including 36.2 percent from 3-point range (17 of 47).

Midwestern State leads the conference and is 20th in the nation with 40.32 rebounds per game, and the Mustangs are second in the league — 21st in the nation — with 13.32 offensive rebounds per game.

Duncan Alevok is the leading shot blocker in the LSC with 33 blocks this season, which is 21st in the nation, and MSU is blocking the second-most shots in the league with 4.6 per game. Alevok is responsible for 1.74 blocks per game.

LaStrap is ninth in the conference with 1.5 steals per game and has 27 total steals this season. Sanders has 26 steals in 19 games. MSU is fifth in the league with 7.7 steals per game.

The Mustangs are forcing the fifth-most turnovers in the LSC with 13.95 per game and eighth in the conference with 12.4 turnovers committed per game. The plus-1.6 turnover margin is eighth-best in the league.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with Lubbock Christian, 30-15, including an 83-69 victory over the Chaparrals at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Jan. 6. MSU has won two of the last three meetings, but Lubbock Christian has taken eight of the last 10 encounters.

The Mustangs outscored the Chaparrals in the second half, 53-35, and limited Lubbock Christian to 29.6 percent shooting from 3-point range (8 of 27) earlier this season. LaStrap led four players in double figures with 19 points for MSU, which shot 64.5 percent in the second half (20 of 31) and finished the game shooting 49.2 percent from the field (31 of 63). Tiras Morton led the Chaps with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Ethan Duncan scored 17 points and hit 5-of-13 shots from beyond the arc.

Lubbock Christian (14-6, 9-3) is second in the conference and fourth in the nation with a 41.5 shooting percentage from 3-point range. The Chaps are third in the league with an overall field-goal percentage of 49.5, which is 23rd-best among NCAA Division II programs.

The Chaparrals are 8-2 at home this season and had a seven-game home winning streak snapped with their loss to Dallas Baptist on Saturday. LCU had five players score in double figures, led by Kurt Wegscheider, Aaron Gonzales, and Najeeb Muhammad who all scored 13 points. Kendall Dow added 12 points off the bench and Ethan Duncan scored 11. Lubbock Christian outrebounded Dallas Baptist, 42-28. Morton was the leading rebounder with 13 boards for the Chaps.

Lubbock Christian is scoring 78.9 points per game, which is 10th-most in the LSC, but the Chaps have the third-best scoring defense, allowing just 69.1 points per game.

Morton shoots 53 percent from the floor, which is fifth-best in the conference, and he is the 10th-leading scorer in the LSC with 16.2 points per game. The 6-5 senior from Austin, Texas, is the league's third leading rebounder with 8.8 boards per game.

Morton is also second in the league with 30 blocked shots and 1.5 blocks per game.

Duncan is the most accurate 3-point shooter in the LSC, hitting 70-of-157 shots from beyond the arc (.446).

The Chaparrals are 16th in the conference with 30.5 rebounds per game and 13th with a minus-0.8 rebounding margin.

Lubbock Christian is only committing 9.2 turnovers per game, which is the fewest among LSC schools and sixth-best in the nation. The Chaps are 16th in the league, forcing 11.5 turnovers per game.

Todd Duncan is in his 13th season as a head coach at Lubbock Christian, where his record is 235-129 (.646). Duncan is the seventh head coach in program history and is the all-time winningest coach in the history of the program.

The 2022-23 season saw the Chaps make another NCAA South Central Regional appearance. Rowan Mackenzie was named D2CCA All-Region First Team and LSC All-Conference First Team. Russell Harrison was Second Team All-LSC and Aaron Gonzales was named to the LSC All-Academic Team. The Chaps finished the season with a 19-14 record and had wins over No. 4 West Liberty and No. 15 Angelo State.

After graduating from Coronado High School in Lubbock, Duncan began his college career at Midland College, where he played alongside Mookie Blaylock from 1985-1987. Duncan holds Midland College's single-season records for three-point shooting percentage (.584) and free throw shooting (.869) from the 1986-87 season.

He returned home in 1987 after transferring to Texas Tech University and suiting up with the Red Raiders from 1987-1989. Duncan is the Red Raiders' career three-point shooting percentage leader with a mark of 46 percent. In just two seasons with the Red Raiders, Duncan knocked down 132 three-pointers to rank ninth all-time.

Justin Leslie is in his fifth season with Midwestern State and his 17th season as a head coach at the collegiate level. His career record is 325-188 (.634), and he is 59-67 (.468) in his fifth season at MSU. Leslie competed as a 6-8 center at Azusa Pacific from 1996-2001. He is one of just five players in Golden State Athletic Conference history to play on four conference championship teams. Leslie was the head coach at his alma mater for 12 seasons before taking the reins at Midwestern State.

Midwestern State plays the final game of its four-game road trip on Saturday against No. 1-ranked West Texas A&M. Tipoff at First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas, is scheduled for 3 p.m. The Mustangs return home Feb. 8 to play Eastern New Mexico.
 

--MSUMustangs.com--