(Lewiston, ID) No. 15 LC State Men’s Basketball pushed No. 2 College of Idaho down the stretch in a tightly contested Cascade Conference matchup to conclude the 2024 portion of the schedule on Saturday. Despite the final score of 85-69, the only NAIA teams in Idaho fought a close contest with both programs shooting over 50% from the field.
Taden King led the Warriors with 18 points while MaCarhy Morris put up another big game with 16 on eight field goals. Freshman Josh Salguero saw some of the biggest minutes of his career and was 4-for-5 from the floor with a team-high five rebounds.
“C of I controlled the game from the outset,” coach Austin Johnson said. “I thought Salguero gave us some physicality and toughness in the first half which gave us a little momentum and we were much better the last 30 minutes of the game, but you can’t spot an elite team a 20-point lead and hope you can get back in the game. There were certainly some positives here and there but we need to grow in our toughness and discipline if we want to be a postseason team. I believe in this group’s character and really believe we will improve as the season goes on.”
The loss moves LC State to 10-2 on the season and 5-1 in CCC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Yotes came out hot and took a commanding 23-6 lead in the first 10 minutes of the contest. Kasen Carpenter came off the bench and hit three 3-pointers in just over two minutes, and a layup by Salguero had the score at 33-17 at 7:31.
C of I held its strong lead until six points from Morris, a pair of 3s by King and a bucket by Alton Hamilton had the deficit in single digits, 46-37, at 1:38. C of I took a 49-37 advantage into halftime.
The teams traded baskets through the first three minutes of the second half until Salgeruo, Morris and King combined for an eight-point run to cut the margin to 57-51 at 11:26. The Yotes answered to grow the lead back to 12, but another 3 by King and free throws by Gorden Boykins kept the game with reach at 68-60 with 6:32 to play.
College of Idaho regained its footing in the final four minutes of play. King scored eight of the final 10 LC State points in the 85-69 loss.
STAT RECAP
King led LC State with 18 points on a 3-for-7 night from 3-point range and 7-for-12 performance from the field. Morris added 16 on 8-for-13 shooting and Salguero added 10 on a 4-for-5 performance.
Salguero and Boykins each grabbed five boards to lead the team. LC State shot 50.9% from the floor.
The Yotes shot 55.4% from the floor and were led by Johnny Radford’s 20 points on a 7-for-9 night from the field and 3-for-6 from 3-point range. Samaje Morgan scored 18 points with six assists and Straton Rogers grabbed 11 rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Warriors open 2025 on the road with contests against Multnomah (Ore.) and Warner Pacific (Ore.). Action in Portland on Jan. 3 starts at 2 p.m.