LEWISTON, ID – After defeating sixth-seeded Corban (Ore.) in the quarterfinal on Tuesday, the third-seeded LC State Men’s Basketball team will host seventh-seeded Multnomah (Ore.) in the semifinal round of the 2025 Cascade Conference Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, on Friday. The contest in the P1FCU Activity Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The LC State Warriors swept the regular season against the Lions with an 90-72 victory in Portland in January and 87-77 win in Lewiston earlier this month. Multnomah advanced to the semifinal with an upset win over second-seeded No. 25 Oregon Tech.
No. 3 Seed – LC State Warriors (23-6, 17-5)
The LC State Warriors earned an 88-75 win over Corban on Tuesday to advance in the tournament. MaCarhy Morris led LC State with 23 points, John Lustig added 18 and Alton Hamilton notched a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds to go with seven assists. LC State shot a season-best 64.9% from the field and 50% from 3-point range.
The Warriors enter the contest with a record of 23-6 overall and 17-5 in conference play. LC leads the CCC in field goal percentage (.502) is second in scoring defense (71.4) and field goal percentage defense (.441). The Warriors are averaging 79.8 points per game.
Hamilton has been one of the top players in the conference all season long and is the only player in the CCC averaging a double-double. His 10.1 boards per game leads the Cascade and his 17.3 points per game mark is second. The sophomore is second in blocked shots this season with 28 and leads the team with 72 assists.
Junior Lustig has been one of the most efficient scorers in the CCC in the last few weeks and currently ranks fifth in the conference in field goal percentage (.589). He is averaging 12.4 points per game and scored the 1,000th point of his career on Tuesday against Corban. Lustig is tied for the team lead with 22 steals this season and is second in assists with 71.
Morris is one of the biggest scoring threats with 15.0 points per game while senior Taden King leads the LC State Warriors in 3-pointers made this season with 53. Both are shooting more than 34% from beyond the 3-point line.
Freshman Dylan Skaife had a breakout second half with a career-high 18 points against Southern Oregon at home, and senior Gorden Boykins has been a steady presence off the bench and is currently tied for the team lead in steals 22 to go with 15 blocks and 37 assists.
LC State defeated Multnomah at home by a score of 87-77 on Feb. 1. Morris and Lustig each scored 18 points and King hit four 3-pointers as part of his 16 points. The Warriors shot 51.1% from the field and made 36 free throws. Morris led LC State in the first meeting of the season back in January with 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists. King added 16 points in the game where the Warriors shot 55.8%.
No. 7 Seed – Multnomah Lions (17-11, 12-10)
The Lions advanced to the CCC semifinal with an 84-75 upset victory over OIT on Tuesday. Multnomah shot 53.1% from the field and outrebounded the Owls 35-28. The victory is the first postseason win in the school’s history.
The Multnomah Lions are the top CCC team in steals this season with 278, 9.9 per game, and offensive rebounds (13.6 per game), and are second in turnover margin (3.50). Noah McCord is fourth in the conference in rebounds per game with 8.6 and Noah Madsen is third in assists per game with 4.3.
Keilan Torkornoo leads Multnomah in scoring this season with 15.6 points per game and is one of five players averaging double-digits. The Lions average 84.1 points per game as a team and have held opponents to 79.9.
Braedon Edison led the Lions in Lewiston with 16 points off the bench while Torkornoo led with 18 points in the first meeting of the season in Portland.
The Lions are playing to keep more than just the season alive. The Multnomah Campus of Jessup University announced it will close its doors at the end of the academic year.
THE DETAILS
The CCC semifinal contest is set for Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in the P1FCU Activity Center. The winner will advance to the championship to face the winner of No. 1 College of Idaho and Southern Oregon. Tickets are on sale now at lcwarriors.com/tickets and streaming passes are available at lcwarriors.com/watch. KOZE will carry the game.
Season passes, both tickets are streaming are not valid for postseason play.
