LUBBOCK, Texas – The Rogers State men's basketball team fell behind early in the first half and couldn't recover in a 81-70 loss at Lubbock Christian on Saturday (Feb. 10) at the Rip Griffin Center.
 
The Chaps (12-12, 8-5 Heartland) tallied the first four points of the game and built a 13-4 edge in the first four minutes to pull away early. LCU pushed the margin to its largest of the game on a Brennen Fowler dunk at the 9:44 mark of the first half for a 32-14 advantage.
 
The Hillcats (15-9, 6-6) cut the deficit to 12 at 37-25 on a jumper by Tate Turner, but the margin was 14 at halftime at 45-31 as the host Chaps hit 64 percent of their shots in the opening 20 minutes.  
 
RSU posted the first five points of the second half to pull to within nine at 45-36 with 18:40 remaining, but that was the only time the Cats got as close as single digits in the second half.
 
LCU's Isaac Asrat sank a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 48-36 and another 3 by Asrat midway through the second half gave the Chaps their biggest second-half edge at 66-50 with 9:21 remaining.
 
The navy and red pulled as close to 11 points three times later in the final minutes in the second half, including the final 81-70 score.
 
Chase Littlejohn totaled a team-high 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. He hit three 3-pointers. Saint Hilaire added 13 points, and Turner finished with 11 points.
 
RSU shot 43.3 percent (26-60) from the field and 33.3 percent (7-21) from 3.
 
The Chaps built the first-half edge on a blistering 64 percent shooting (16-25) from the field and 50 percent (7-14) from behind the 3-point line. For the game, LCU finished at 50 percent (25-50) from the field and 47.6 percent (10-21) from 3.
 
Fowler of LCU posted a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds. Kentton Williams totaled 17 points, and Asrat went for 16 points. Also in double figures for the Chaps was Marcos Schuster with 15 points.
 
The Hillcats continue their three-game road trip at St. Mary's on Thursday in San Antonio, Texas. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. with radio coverage available on 91.3 FM and on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.