(Lewiston, ID) MaCarhy Morris drained the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to lift No. 15 LC State over Eastern Oregon in a dramatic 79-76 victory. The sophomore led the Warriors with 19 points to pair with 18 from John Lustig in the win.
Gorden Boykins was key off the bench with a career-high 14 points and Alton Hamilton dished a career-best seven assists while double-teamed. LC State shot a staggering 58% as a team.
“Our guys battled and found a way,” coach Austin Johnson said. “Ultimately it came down to us getting one more shot and thank goodness MaCarhy called glass. Credit to EOU, they pretty much owned the tempo/style of the last 26 minutes of the game. But our guys kept plugging away. Pretty impressive to see them keep trying to do the right things even when we couldn’t get out of our way at times. Alton didn’t have outstanding numbers but his passing out of double teams to our open shooters helped us get into a great rhythm. John was awesome and Gorden continues to impact the game in so many ways off the bench. Hoping we have some gas in the tank against a very well rested and extremely talented College of Idaho team.”
The victory improves the LC State record to 10-1 overall and 5-0 in Cascade Conference play ahead of a key matchup with No. 2 College of Idaho on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After EOU got on the board with a free throw, Morris drained his first of five 3-pointers to give the Warriors an early edge. The teams traded baskets before a triple by Morris at 12:34 sparked a nine-point run to grow the LC State lead to 23-10 by 9:56. Boykins scored four points in the span and Grayson Hunt tallied a basket.
A jumper by Boykins started another run, this time of six points, with buckets by Taden King and Jayceon Smith for a 29-12 advantage at 8:06. EOU cut the margin to 10, 31-21, at 4:11 before chipping away more to bring the difference to 34-31 with 40 seconds to play in the half. King netted a 3-pointer in the final 30 seconds to send the Warriors to the break ahead 37-31.
The Mounties battled back in the second half to erase the LC State lead. A run by EOU had the Warrior lead at two, 60-58, midway through the half, but a triple by King got the LC State offense going once again. Tallies by Boykins, Lustig and Hamilton grew the advantage back to 72-65 at 4:38, but the Mountaineers turned the tables to surge ahead by two, 74-72, at 2:07.
Lustig threw down a dunk at 1:48 to tie the score 74-74, and Boykins dropped in a layup 40 seconds later for a 76-74 lead. EOU evened things up 76-76 with one minute to play.
After a costly turnover gave LC State back the ball, Lustig connected with Morris with an inbound pass. Morris banked in the go-ahead 3-pointer to give LC State’s its 79-76 victory.
STAT RECAP
Morris led LC State with 19 points on a 5-for-6 night from 3-point range. Lustig shot 7-for-10 from the floor for his 18 points to go with seven rebounds and two steals. Boykins scored his career-best 14 points with a 6-for-9 shooting night and King scored 12.
Hamilton orchestrated the offense with seven assists, doing so through traffic as he was double-teamed for most of the contest.
LC State shot .580 (29-for-50) and netted 13 free throws.
EOU’s Garrett Hawkes led the contest with 22 points and TJ Doman scored 17. Brennen Newsom scored 13 points with nine rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Warriors close out 2024 on Saturday against second-ranked College of Idaho. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. in the P1FCU Activity Center.
