LA GRANDE, Ore. – Davian Brown was unstoppable from behind the 3-point line on Saturday in LC State Men’s Basketball’s 86-79 victory over (RV) Eastern Oregon. The sophomore became the first Warrior to go 5-for-5 from behind the line since Race Martin in 2018.
Brown totaled 24 points in the contest, and freshman John Lustig finished one point shy of his career-best with 21. Grayson Hunt matched his career-high from Friday with 17. The Warriors shot .652 on the night and .600 from 3-point range.
LC State is 10-11 overall and 7-8 in Cascade Conference play with the victory over one of the top teams in the CCC.
“Very proud and happy for our guys,” Head Coach Austin Johnson said. “We stuck with our team principles and made extra-effort plays. Each guy was doing all that they could to help the guy next to them. Davian was fantastic. John and Grayson got off to slow starts but responded like big-time players once they settled down. We’ll continue trying to improve down the home stretch of the season. We have a big week ahead.”
EOU got off to a hot start with a pair of 3s, but a triple from Brown got the offense going for LC. The sophomore added two free throws to cut the difference to one before a pair of jumpers by Oreon Courtney gave LC a 9-6 edge after seven minutes.
Brennen Newsom, Sam Stockton and Hunt pushed the scoring run to 15 straight points for a 15-6 lead by 11:10. A 3-pointer by Brown and three buckets by Hunt kept the momentum going for LC State to put the Warriors ahead 24-16 at 7:13.
EOU regained its footing to pull within four before a 3 by Lustig pushed the lead back to 29-22 with 3:52 to play in the half. Two more 3s by Brown and one by Lustig kept the Warriors in front during the back-and-forth as the clock ticked down to 1:00.
The Mounties scored the final four points of the half to send LC into the locker room with a 38-31 advantage.
Brown and Lustig hit back-to-back 3s to get open the second half. Free throws by Hunt and a jumper by Lustig made it 10 straight LC State points through the first two minutes.
Tallies from Lustig, Newsom and Courtney grew the cushion to 59-41with 12:50 to play. EOU chipped away at the Warrior lead to pull within five, 64-59, at 7:04.
Free throws by Keegan Crosby and Hunt, a layup by Hunt, a basket by Lustig and a 3 by Crosby combined for a 10-0 run to grow the advantage back to 74-59 by 4:36. EOU scored five to make it a 10-point difference, but a jumper by Brown made it 76-64 with 3:45 on the clock.
EOU again pulled within five with less than a minute to play but free throws by Brown and Lustig and a dunk by Hunt helped LC seal the 86-79 victory.
Brown led LC with his 24 points on a 7-for-8 night from the field. He is the eighth Warrior to have a perfect night from 3-point range with at least five attempts. Lustig was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 7-for-10 from the field on his 21-point night, and Hunt was 7-for-11 with his 17 points. In all, LC State was 30-for-46 on the night with a .652 field goal percentage.
Crosby led the defense with eight rebounds, while Lustig and Brown each dished out four assists.
UP NEXT
The Warriors head to College Place, Wash., for a midweek matchup with Walla Walla on Tuesday.
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