LUBBOCK, Texas -- Midwestern State's John Gaines scored a season-high 17 points off of the bench Thursday night at Rip Griffin Center.

But the effort wasn't enough to kick start the Mustangs, who struggled to a season-low scoring output and fell to Lubbock Christian 76-59.

The Mustangs lost for the third time in four games, falling to 12-8 overall and 6-8 in the Lone Star Conference play.

Gaines, who connected on 6-of-10 shots and was 5-of-8 from the free throw line, was one of three Mustangs in double figures as Amaechi Chukwu and Pierre Sanders chipped in 10 points each.

Lubbock Christian (10-3, 5-2 LSC) led by as many as 19 points in the first half powered by redshirt-freshman Ethan Duncan, who buried four of his six 3-pointers before the break. He finished with a game-high 23 points.

Midwestern State charged back into the game by going on a 13-2 run to open the second half with Gaines converting a layup in transition to pull the Mustangs to within 41-36 just 3 ½ minutes after the break.

But LCU's Najeeb Muhammad scored nine of his 19 points during a 14-0 run and pushed Chaps' advantage back to 19 when his triple with just under 10 minutes to play gave Lubbock Chrsitian a 60-41 lead.

Junior Aaron Gonzales connected on three 3s to give the Chaps a third double-figure scorer with 13 points.

Midwestern State junior Will Shepherd chipped in nine points and grabbed seven rebounds, while freshman forward Steve Tatsiguia provided a lift for the Mustangs at the start of the second. While not scoring a point, he grabbed three rebounds and dished out an assist, and the Mustangs outscored LCU by 11 during his 12 minutes of court time.

Midwestern State completes a four-game road trip Saturday afternoon against No. 1-ranked West Texas A&M at First United Bank Center. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.
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