(Lewiston, ID), LC State Men’s Basketball shot 60% from the field in the second half to take down No. 24 Oregon Tech on Friday. The Warriors broke a 39-39 tie at the half with 18 points from Alton Hamilton in the final 20 minutes.
Hamilton notched his 10th double-double of the season with 22 points and 14 rebounds while John Lustig added 20 points, seven boards and four assists.
“Huge win for the guys. We weren’t perfect but we stuck together and strung together just enough stops to get it done,” coach Austin Johnson said. “The point totals don’t necessarily reflect it, but we had some great defensive possessions in the second half. We were able to get Alton more touches in the second half and he was a monster on the glass. John had another complete game and MaCarhy (Morris) stepped up in the second half. It was great to see Taden (King) get it going a bit and play with confidence. As big as tonight was, tomorrow is even bigger against a super talented and well-rested SOU team. Excited to see how we respond.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half was an even battle in which both teams scored 39 points. Lustig opened the contest with a layup and combined with Taden King for a 7-2 Warrior run. The duo accounted for the first 11 LC State points and the Warriors led 11-7 at 16:37.
OIT took a 14-11 lead at 13:40 but baskets by Hamilton, Lustig and Morris had the score within one, 20-19, at 10:52. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Kasen Carpenter and Dylan Skaife put the Warriors in front of the back-and-forth, 25-24, at 8:38. Tallies by Josh Salguero, Carpenter, King, Lustig and Hamilton had the score knotted 35-35 with 2:18 to play in the half.
Morris converted a pair of free throws at 1:36 to tie the score 37-37, and a layup by Lusting made it 39-39. Hamilton blocked a last-second shot to keep the game tied at the break.
The back-and-forth continued into the first half until Hamilton sparked an LC State run. The sophomore kickstarted a nine-point stretch with contributions form Morris, King and Lustig to give the Warriors a 54-45 advantage at 15:22. A triple by King gave LC State a 10-point cushion, 59-49, and another by Morris at 11:34 made it 64-54.
Tallies by Skaife, Lustig, Hamilton and King kept the lead at eight points and a 3 by Morris had the advantage at 82-73 with 3:32 on the clock. OIT cut the lead to four points, 84-80, in the final two minutes, but a steal and basket by Gorden Boykins secured the victory with 22 seconds left.
STAT RECAP
Hamilton led the Warriors with 22 points and 14 rebounds. He was 10-for-14 from the field. Lustig scored 20 points on an 8-for-11 night with seven rebounds and four assists. King added 15 points with three 3-pointers and Morris tallied 14 points with three assists.
The Warriors shot 55.7% from the field and excelled inside with 48 points in the paint.
OIT’s Kam Osborn led the contest with a career-high 29 points and Keegan Shivers had seven rebounds and seven assists.
