LEWISTON – Lewis-Clark State hung with Corban through the first half but ran out of steam in a 68-58 conference loss on Saturday.
Davian Brown was lights out for LC and missed a career-high by just one point in a 26-point showing. Brown was 9-of-11 from the field including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. The rest of the Warriors combined for just 11-of-39. Freshman John Lustig finished with 10 points.
“We struggled to score and down the stretch we weren’t as good on the glass as we needed to be,” LC coach Austin Johnson said. “Our guys battled all night which was encouraging, though. It was great to see us keep competing even when shots weren’t falling.”
Offensively, Lewis-Clark State (12-12, 9-9) matched Corban for the first 20 minutes with the help of 48-percent (13-of-27) shooting from the field. Neither team was able to extend a lead more than five points and the game was tied on eight separate occasions.
LC jumped out early with layups from Grayson Hunt and Brown to take a 4-0 lead in the opening minute. LC would maintain that lead until an Andrew Stafford basket tied the game at eight.
Darius Henderson connected from beyond the arc with 13:11 to go in the opening half to give Corban its first lead of the game at 16-14. Lewis-Clark State buckled down on defense and kept Corban scoreless for over three minutes, but the offense was only able to muster four points to give LC an 18-16 lead halfway through the first half.
Trailing by one, Erick Chaney and Lustig hit back-to-back 3s to give LC State its biggest lead of the game 24-19.
Collin Warmouth hit a 3-pointer for Corban and Henderson followed it up with a jumper over Hunt to tie the game at 24 with 6:55 remaining in the half.
The two teams traded baskets before Brown connected on a jumper to give LC a 30-28 lead with 3:58 left in the first half, and it would be the last time Lewis-Clark State would lead in the game.
A near six-minute drought by LC allowed Corban to take a 34-30 advantage before Anthony Peoples Jr. tipped in a rebound to make it a 34-32 halftime deficit.
The second half played out much differently as a Silas Bennion jumper was the only two points LC State would score in the first 5:20 of the half, and Corban jumped out to a 10-point lead. Lewis-Clark State was not able to get within seven the rest of the game.
“It looked like we ran out of gas as the game wore on so we’ll have to make some adjustments,” Johnson added. “As a coach, I need to do a better job of making sure we are more rested on Saturday games.”
Three Corban players finished in double figures led by Taylor Anderson with 15 points. Collin Warmouth added 13 and Mateo Escheik finished with 10.
UP NEXT
The Warriors hit the road next weekend to take on No. 25 Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
