LUBBOCK, Texas (February 15, 2025) – The University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball team finished up a four-game road swing with what was its fifth-straight loss on the road, falling 83-60 at Lubbock Christian University on Saturday.

Both teams put an emphasis on taking 3-point shots in the first half with both squads going 5-for-12 from behind the arc. The difference in the first half was LCU shooting 9-for-14 on two-point shots compared to 6-for-17 shooting from two for UTPB.

In the second half, LCU shot 58.33 percent (14-24) from the field while limiting the Falcons to 31.82 percent (7-22) shooting. For the game, LCU finished at 56 percent shooting, which marks the fourth time in the last eight games the Falcons have allowed their opponent to shoot over 55 percent from the field after holding each of the first 17 opponents of the season to under 55 percent shooting.

LCU made 20 of its 21 free throw attempts on Saturday. Opponents shoot 75.3 percent from the free throw line against UTPB, which is the highest mark in the Lone Star Conference. In the first meeting this season between the two teams in Odessa, Texas, LCU again missed just one free throw (16-17). At the time, it was just UTPB's second conference loss.

In addition to holding UTPB to its lowest shooting percentage of the season (35.3 percent), LCU kept the Falcons to without a field goal for the final 4:18 of the game and has now limited eight of its last nine opponents to less than 70 points. Coming into the game, the Chapparals were limiting opponents to 65.7 points per game, which was the second-best mark in the Lone Star Conference.

LCU built up a 12-point lead (29-17) with five and a half minutes left in the first half before a three-point play on a long banked-in two-point shot by Sharrod Taylor. Then a traditional three from the corner by Taylor made it 31-23 with three and a half minutes left before halftime.

Maison Adeleye rolled in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it a five-point deficit (33-28) in the final minute of the first half, but a crafty play by Ethan Duncan led to two free throws in the final seconds of the half to make it 35-28 Chaps at the break.

LCU methodically widened its lead throughout the second half and led by 12 points (45-33) again early in the half. After two free throws by Dario Domingos and a jumper by Alex Matthews cut it to eight, Najeeb Muhammad continued his sharp shooting for the Chaps with his fifth 3-pointer of the game. Muhammad had just one miss from the field all game and scored 22 points in the first 24 minutes of the game.

That 3-pointer by Muhammad started a 10-0 LCU run to make it an 18-point game (55-37) just over seven minutes into the half.

UTPB would get no closer than within 15 points the rest of the way while LCU made it a 20-point margin (63-43) with nine minutes left and led by as many as 27 points (74-47) with under six minutes remaining. UTPB would get no closer than within 22 points over the final six and a half minutes.

Adeleye and Matthews both scored 11 points for UTPB while Taylor recorded nine points and had a season-high 13 rebounds. For LCU, Muhammad finished with a career-high of 30 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the field, a career-best five 3-pointers (5-6), and a 7-for-7 performance at the free throw line.

UTPB falls to 15-10 overall and 11-8 in the Lone Star Conference while the West Division-leading Chaps won their eighth-straight game, their longest winning streak since the 2021-22 season, and improved to 20-6 overall, 15-3 in the LSC and 10-2 in the West Division.

Next week, UTPB will return to the Falcon Dome for the final homestand of the season. The Falcons will host The University of Texas at Tyler at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 20. That will be followed by a matchup against the first-place team in the Lone Star Conference and the No. 5 nationally-ranked team in all of NCAA Division II, Dallas Baptist University, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 22.