LEWISTON – Warrior Men’s Basketball completed the season sweep of Bushnell University on Friday behind big performances by John Lustig and Silas Bennion. LC State shot .500 from the floor in the 82-69 victory.
Lustig led all scorers with 21 points and Bennion notched the first double-double of his career with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
With the win, LC State is 12-11 on the season and 9-8 in Cascade Conference play.
“Tonight was a challenging game against a very capable offensive team,” Head Coach Austin Johnson said. “The first half set the tone. It was encouraging to see our guys defend together at a high level, even when our offense wasn’t always clicking. In the second half, we got the ball moving side to side more and it set up some open looks and driving lanes. We’ll need to be even better and more disciplined against a talented and extremely well-rested Corban team.”
Bushnell struck first, but free throws by Davian Brown got the offense going for LC State. Two more foul shots by the sophomore sparked a six-point rally that put the Warriors in front 10-4 by 12:53, with Bennion and Lustig fueling the run.
A 3 by Erick Chaney and jumper by Lustig had the lead at eight, 16-8, at 9:50, but a run by the Beacons had LC trailing 18-16 at 8:02. Chaney kickstarted a run of nine with a triple to give the Warriors a 25-18 advantage with 5:14 to play in the half.
A 3-pointer by Lustig and jumper by Bennion kept the lead with LC State, and three points from Bennion closed out the first half with the Warriors ahead 33-27.
LC opened the second half with back-to-back baskets by Brown and Keegan Crosby. A run of seven with tallies from Grayson Hunt, Bennion and Lustig pushed the margin to 46-31 by 14:52.
Oreon Courtney and Chaney scored a pair of baskets, with Chaney’s going for 3, to give the Warriors their largest lead of the contest, 17 points, at 57-40 with 10:14 to play. Triples by Lustig and Chaney kept LC in control through the final minutes.
Anthony Peoples Jr., Lustig and Bennion all scored in the final five minutes. Lustig added nine points and Bennion tallied three in the stretch. A free throw by Hunt closed out the contest at 82-69.
Lustig led all scorers with 21 points. He was 8-for-14 from the field and 3-for-6 from 3-point range. Bennion’s first double-double featured 19 points with a 6-for-12 night from the field and 7-for-9 from the line, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Brown and Chaney each added 12 points, with Chaney doing so with four 3-pointers.
As a team, LC State shot .500 (29-for-58) from the field and made 17 of its 22 free throws. The Warriors outrebounded Bushnell 44-31.
Bushnell was led by Spencer Hoffman’s 19 points and nine rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Warriors host Corban on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the P1FCU Activity Center.
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