ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) – Both Falcon teams came up short of the upset in their final home games of the season.
First up was the women’s matchup between UTPB and the No. 23 Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps. LCU outlasted the Falcons to secure the 60-56 victory.
UTPB put up quite the fight though, especially early on. Senior Kenadi Rising opened the game with 10 straight points for the Falcons.
The Lady Chaps recovered in the second quarter, outscoring UTPB by 11 to take a 31-18 lead into halftime.
The Falcons soared back into the picture in the third quarter, with Rising and Madison Walters putting up bucket-after-bucket.
The fourth quarter came down to the wire, but a late layup from Lubbock Christian’s Martie McCoy sealed the deal.
Despite the loss, Kenadi Rising had a great showing in her final Falcon Dome game. She led the scoring effort with 20 points.
With the loss, UTPB dropped to 15-11 overall and 10-8 in Lone Star Conference play. The Falcons also slid down the conference standings to eighth place.
With just two games left in the regular season, each matchup is crucial for UTPB’s Lone Star Conference Tournament hopes.
The programs held their Senior Day festivities in-between the two contests.
The women’s team honored Rising as its lone senior player, but also recognized graduate assistants Tamia Flores and Dagne Apsite for their contributions to the program.
Meanwhile, the men’s team celebrated five of its senior players: TJ McKenzie, Bryceson Burns, Sharrod Taylor, Kyle McElroy and Tash Lunday.
No. 10 Lubbock Christian took the court soon after for the contest against UTPB. While the Falcons held their own until the end, the Chaparrals did leave town with an 80-77 victory.
UTPB kept pace with LCU for the entire game, as the senior leaders did their best to outscore the Chaps.
TJ McKenzie led the Falcon offense with 29 points. Taylor and Lunday were close behind with 15 and 13 respectively.
However, they couldn’t match the intensity LCU brought to that side of the ball. The Chaparrals had four different players reach double-digit scoring in the game.
The Falcons drop to 10-16 with the loss. They are also out of the Lone Star Tournament race with a 6-10 conference record.
Both teams head west for the penultimate game of the regular season. The UTPB programs will face Eastern New Mexico on Feb. 26.
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