Rangers' late rally falls just shy in home loss to No. 16 Lubbock Christian

Lubbock Christian LCU 1-0,0-0 Lone Star

Regis (CO) Regis 0-1,0-0 RMAC

Lubbock Christian LCU

1-0,0-0 Lone Star

Final

Nov. 11, 2022

Regis (CO) Regis

0-1,0-0 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Lubbock Christian LCU	37	29	66
Regis (CO) Regis	28	31	59

Summary
Box Score

Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Nov 11 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers' late rally falls just shy in home loss to No. 16 Lubbock Christian

DENVER, Colo. — The Regis University men's basketball team opened its 2022-23 season on Friday in the RMAC-Lone Star Conference Challenge, falling by a narrow 66-59 final to No. 16 ranked Lubbock Christian University inside the Regis Field House.

Defensive rebounding and an uncharacteristic night shooting the basketball from the 3-point and free-throw line put the Rangers (0-1 overall) behind the 8-ball Friday against a Chaparrals squad (1-0 overall) that was the top-seeded South Central Region team in the NCAA Division II Tournament a season ago.

"That (game) didn't disappoint. Lubbock Christian is a really good team and both teams had a lot of new faces out there. Just give them a lot of credit for how tough they were, defensively, said Regis head men's basketball coach, Brady Bergeson. "They really turned the game on the offensive boards. They were undersized, but they flew in there and did a good job while we didn't respond well to that."

HOW IT HAPPENED: The two teams traded jabs through the game's opening eight minutes, with Regis holding a 14-13 lead at the 12:22 mark following a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Eddy Egun.

Lubbock Christian responded with a 15-6 blitz over the next two minutes and change to build a 28-20 lead and would take a 37-28 advantage into the halftime locker rooms.

In the second half, the Rangers would trail by as many as 14 at 57-43 with 8:52 remaining before the offense found its footing.

Regis cut the deficit all the way down to six points at the 4:34 mark on a 3-pointer cashed in by sophomore transfer CJ Reed. Unfortunately for the Rangers, despite getting four straight defensive stops, their run was halted by four straight empty possessions on the offensive end of the floor.

Regis shot a respectable 45 percent (24-for-53) from the floor Friday, but were just 5-of-21 (24%) from 3-point range and 6-of-18 (33%) from the free-throw line.

"We gave up 12 offensive rebounds and left 12 points at the free-throw line, so between those two things we didn't do quite enough to win the game," Bergeson said. "I think it took two-thirds of the game before we really dug in for multiple possessions, defensively. We gave ourselves some opportunities that way, but didn't capitalize on those chances."

Graduate student guard David Simental lead all players with 18 points in his Regis debut, shooting 8-of-15 from the field, was sophomore forward Brayden Carter was the second Ranger in double-figures with 11 points on a spotless 4-for-4 shooting.

Carter added a team-high four assists and three rebounds, but the 6'9 big man was limited to 21 minutes due to early foul trouble.

"It doesn't help when you get a big weapon like him in foul trouble, especially so quickly, and we didn't do a good job of playing on-balance in the first half," Bergeson said. "Lubbock Christian was really good at taking charges and playing positional defense. That gave us some problems."

Reed added nine points in his debut with the Rangers, as well, while Egun and senior guard Aaron Bokol, who led Regis with nine rebounds, each added five points apiece.

UP NEXT: The Rangers will have a quick turnaround as they conclude the RMAC-Lone Star Conference Challenge with a 6 p.m. matchup against St. Mary's University on Saturday.

"St. Mary's has some quick guards and good, physical bigs. They can make threes and can score inside and can give us problems on the offensive glass, as well. We need to be ready to block out (Saturday)," Bergeson said. "We'll need to guard pick-and-rolls, rebound and make things hard for them, defensively. If we can do those things properly, I think we'll give ourselves a good chance."

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