Box Score AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's men's basketball bench tallied 38 points but that was not enough as the Hilltoppers dropped a 79-71 contest to Lubbock Christian Thursday evening at the Recreation and Convocation Center.
 
Lubbock Christian (7-5, 2-4 HC) opened the game on a 7-1 run in the first three minutes of action. Eli Baker had three buckets to lead the way for the visitors. St. Edward's (7-7, 3-3 HC) had trouble getting a shot off, as they turned the ball over four of their five possessions.
 
The lead would grow to double digits at the 7:56 mark as Tyler Rogers' three-pointer gave Lubbock Christian a 25-15 lead.
 
The lead would hover around 6-to-7 points over the next six minutes but St. Edward's got three pointers from JOHN RUTHERFORD with 21 seconds left and a half court buzzer butter by FRANKIE MGBOLU to cut the Chapparal lead to 36-35 at the break.
 
Lubbock Christian opened the second half with a bucket by Rogers and a three-pointer from Anthony Brancato to jump out to a 41-35 lead with 18:59 on the clock.
 
Back-to-back treys by Rutherford and CHRIS WACKER knotted the score, 41-41, with 18:06 remaining. Down by three points with 12:56 remaining, the Hilltoppers got a three-point play by JAMES STUKES and then HARLEY NUSSMAN provided a dunk and a follow-up bucket to give St. Edward's a 54-50 advantage. After Rogers notched a basket for the Chapparals, JOHN GRAMLICH scored five-straight points, which included a trey to push the Hilltopper lead to 60-53, with 9:47 left in the contest.
 
Lubbock Christian then embarked on the most important run of the game. The visitors outscored the Hilltoppers, 9-1 over the next two minutes. At the 4:21 mark, Nussman hit a jumper to tie the score, 67-67. A layup by Brancato and a three-point play from AJ Luckey gave the Chapparals a five-point advantage. They would hit 7-of-8 free throws to ice the game in the final minute.
 
"Unfortunately, the tone is being set by our opposition recently," head coach Andre Cook said. "We have had to come back from deficits these last three games. We need to get off to better starts."
 
Gramlich and Stukes led the Hilltoppers in scoring with 13 points, while Mgbolu added 12 points. Mgbolu also chipped in with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in 26 minutes of action. Gramlich tallied a game-high six assists in 22 minutes of play.
 
St. Edward's will be back in action Saturday when they host Heartland Conference rival UT-Permian Basin. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. at the Recreation and Convocation Center. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.