CALDWELL – It came down to the wire, but the Warriors’ comeback bid against No. 5 College of Idaho fell just short on Saturday in Caldwell. LC State Men’s Basketball trailed by as much as 18 before pulling the score to within one late but fell 81-71 for its first Cascade Conference loss of the season.
Jaedon Bradley led all scorers with 24 points in his third straight 20-point contest. He drained a career-high seven three-pointers as part of his eight field goals. Quentin Raynor helped lead the charge late with 11 points in the second half. He finished the night with four 3-pointers.
“Our guys battled tonight but ultimately too many missed opportunities offensively and a few too many breakdowns defensively,” Head Coach Austin Johnson said. “JB (Bradley) continues to score with efficiency and I thought Alton (Hamilton) had one of his more complete games of the year which was good to see. We were able to get Q (Raynor) some good looks late. We need to tighten some things up and figure out a way to sustain our good stretches. Proud of this group as they keep battling. Big games next week.”
LC State is now 9-5 overall and 7-1 in CCC play with C of I and the Warriors tied at the top in the conference standings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jaedon Bradley opened the contest with a triple off the tip before going back-to-back with Davian Brown to give LC a 7-3 edge 90 seconds in. A block by Sam Stockton led to a 3 by Bradley, and a layup by Alton Hamilton had the Warriors up 12-5 at 17:08. Stockton blocked another shot and Hamilton grabbed a board en route to a layup.
The offense kept coming with a triple by Brown and a basket by Gorden Boykins. C of I cut the margin to five by 13:00, but a jumper by Quentin Raynor pushed the difference back to 21-14 30 seconds later.
The Yotes rallied to pull ahead 26-21 at 9:33. C of I increased its lead to 33-24 by 6:49, but back-to-back baskets by John Lustig and Brown cut the difference to 33-28 at 5:44. Bradley netted two more 3-pointers to keep the game within reach, 39-34, with 3:16 to play in the half. Hamilton and Raynor matched C of I baskets down the stretch and the Yotes led 49-41 at the break.
C of I opened the second half with six straight points before Brown cut into the run with a layup at 16:25. Another triple by Bradley had the margin at 13, 61-48, and Hamilton and Raynor added to the LC total as the contest continued. The pair, along with Bradley, combined for eight straight points to make it a five-point contest, 70-65, with 4:51 on the clock.
Bradley cut the difference to four with his seventh triple of the game in the final three minutes, and Raynor added a 3 to bring the Warriors within one, 72-71. C of I managed to hang on for an 81-71 win.
Bradley led the Warriors with 24 points and seven rebounds and Raynor added 16 points. Hamilton tallied 12 points and six rebounds and Brown scored 11 points with a team-high five assists.
UP NEXT
The Warriors play their first home contests of 2024 next weekend when LC State hosts Southern Oregon and the conference’s top team in No. 24 Oregon Tech.
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