BUTTE, Mont. – The LC State Men’s Basketball team took on a former Frontier Conference opponent for the second night in a row on Friday with a matchup at No. 6 Montana Tech. John Lustig stepped up with 13 points in the contest, but the Warriors fell 79-55.
“Tough one tonight against a good Tech team,” Head Coach Austin Johnson said. “I thought we showed way more fight and connectedness, but we are really struggling to score right now. This group will keep working on it and find ways to get better as the season rolls on.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Grayson Hunt accounted for the first five LC State points to keep the score close through the first six minutes. A layup by Anthony Peoples Jr. was followed by 3-pointers by Davian Brown and MaCarhy Morris to keep the deficit at one, 14-13, at 12:33.
Tech widened the gap to 20-16 but a layup by Lustig kept the Warriors in the mix midway through the half. The Orediggers pushed the margin to 28-20 with six minutes to play. Jaedon Bradley and Gorden Boykins each scored to cut the difference to four before a layup by Morris had the Warriors down by two, 28-26, at 4:01. Bradley put back an offensive board to even the game 30 seconds later.
Bradley kept the score knotted 30-30 before Tech rallied in the final two minutes to pull ahead 37-30 at the half.
The Orediggers grew the margin to double-digits with seven-point run to open the second half. Lustig cut the run with a layup and a free throw to make it 44-33 at 17:34. The sophomore added two more baskets but Montana Tech continued to control the pace of the contest with a 50-37 advantage at 14:07.
Sam Stockton tipped in an offensive rebound to cut another Digger run with the Warriors trailing 56-39 at 11:54. Tech rallied on to pull ahead 66-44 by 8:23 before closing out the contest 79-55.
Lustig finished the contest with a team-high 13 points on a 5-for-8 night from the field. Davian Brown, Hunt and Stockton each scored seven, and Bradley had six points with eight rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Warriors stay on the road and will travel to Caldwell next weekend to take on Montana Western and Hope International (Calif.) at College of Idaho’s Taco Bell Shoot Out.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.