(Lewiston, ID) MaCarhy Morris celebrated the New Year with a career-high 24 points to lead No. 15 LC State Men’s Basketball past Multnomah by a final of 90-72. The sophomore led the contest in scoring, rebounding (8) and assists (4). The Warriors shot 55.8% from the floor, 75% from 3-point range and made 26 free throws in the game.
“Another good road win for the guys,” coach Austin Johnson said. “MaCarhy did a really good job getting into the paint and making good decisions which really helped us when things were pretty rough down the stretch. The first half was as good defensively we’ve looked in all facets all year. Unfortunately, we followed it up with a pretty poor second half defensive performance but credit to our guys for digging in and finding a way to finish it off. To win the rebounding battle against Multnomah is a testament to our guys really competing and matching physicality. We had some good performances off the bench and we will need that moving forward as we have another tough matchup tomorrow against a high scoring Warner Pac team.”
The victory improves the LC State record to 11-2 overall and 6-1 in Cascade Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
John Lustig opened the contest with a three-point play at 17:53 and Grayson Hunt added a jumper a minute later for a 5-0 lead. Hunt made it a 7-0 run at 16:07. Morris hit a 3 to push the lead back to seven points at 14:50 and found Taden King for a 3 before he added another triple at 12:24 for a 16-9 advantage.
King continued LC State’s offensive charge with a layup at the 10:13 mark and Gorden Boykins joined in at 9:08. The Lions pulled within six, 20-14, at 8:51, but a 3 by Kasen Carpenter and jumper by King had the margin at 25-17 by 8:05.
Carpenter added three more points with an and-1 play and Dylan Skaife hit his first collegiate 3 at 6:56 for a 31-17 cushion. After a scoring drought, Hunt, Alton Hamilton and Morris added to the total for a 39-20 lead at the half.
Multnomah came out of the break with eight straight points to cut the margin to 39-28 by 18:37. Morris answered with four straight points and King made it a seven-point run with a triple for a 46-28 advantage at 17:00. Morris continued his strong night with a jumper 40 seconds later.
Lustig answered a pair of Multnomah baskets with one of his own, but a Warrior foul sent the Lions to the line for two free throws. Morris completed a three-point play with a layup and a free throw as LC State maintained its double-digit lead over Multnomah.
Boykins put back an offensive board and Lustig had the lead at 59-46 after being fouled on a made basket. He netted his free throw with 11:45 left to play and added to his total 40 seconds later as Multnomah chipped away at 61-51 at the 10:51 mark.
Multnomah cut the difference to under 10 midway through the half, but back-to-back layups by Hamilton pushed the lead back to 65-53 at 8:33. Morris eclipsed the 20-point mark at 6:59 to give LC State a 69-56 cushion and a pair of free throws maintained a 71-60 lead with 5:13 left to play.
Skaife, King, Boykins and Lustig all converted free throws for a 77-61 advantage with 3:46 on to play in the game. Contributions from King, Boykins and Lustig made the lead nearly 20 points, 83-64, with just under two minutes to play. Hamilton and Morris netted foul shots in the final two minutes, and Josh Salguero and Carpenter each added a bucket in the final minute of the 90-72 win.
STAT RECAP
Morris led the contest in scoring (24), rebounding (8) and assists (4) on a 7-for-12 night from the field. He was 2-for-2 from 3-point range and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. King added 16 points with five rebounds and Lustig added 14 points on a 5-for-6 performance. Hamilton finished his day with nine points and seven rebounds.
LC State shot 55.8% from the field (29-52) and was 6-for-8 from behind the 3-point line. The Warriors held Multnomah to 38.5% from the field and 30.4% from 3-point range. LC State won the rebound battle 40-30.
UP NEXT
The Warriors continue the Portland trip on Saturday with a contest at Warner Pacific. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
