(LEWISTON, Idaho) The No. 21 Warrior Men’s Basketball team shot 60% from the field to earn a hard-fought victory in a tight battle with Evergreen State on Friday. LC State edged the Geoducks 85-83 to open the second half of Cascade Conference play. Alton Hamilton led the Warriors with 19 points and nine rebounds.
LC State overcame a 44-40 deficit at the half and edged TESC with a 45-39 second half. John Lustig was 4-for-4 from the field in final 20 minutes with nine points in the half.
“Super proud of the guys for sticking with it. We have been struggling defensively and unfortunately tonight continued that trend,” coach Austin Johnson said. “Thankfully we were able to knock down some shots. A lot of that can be attributed to our passing and movement without the ball. Excited to see how we respond as we have a quick turnaround against a skilled and physical Northwest team.”
The victory improves the LC State record to 14-5 overall and 9-4 in Cascade Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Hamilton started the scoring in the contest, but Evergreen quickly gained momentum to pull ahead 9-2 by 16:07. Lustig, Hamilton, MaCarhy Morris and Jayceon Smith combined for a 10-point run to put LC State in front 12-11 at 11:34 before the Geoducks regained the lead at 17-12 midway through the half.
A back-and-forth ensued with the lead changing hands multiple times. A pair of 3-pointers by Kasen Carpenter put the Warriors in front by two and a 3 by Morris had the lead at 29-26 at 5:25. The teams continued to go shot-for-shot before a short run had Evergreen in front 44-40 at the break.
TESC pushed the margin to nine in the first five minutes of the second half and led until back-to-back 3s from Dylan Skaife put the Warriors in front 69-66 with 8:08 to play. The score was knotted on six occasions after and sat at 82-82 with a minute to play.
A layup by Lustig gave the Warriors an 84-82 edge with 40 seconds on the clock and a free throw by Hamilton made it 85-82. Evergreen’s Jourdan Joseph went to the free throw line for three shots and missed his second. The rebound of his third attempt was grabbed by Peyton Knowles to end the game with one second left. The Warriors hung on to the 85-83 win.
STAT RECAP
Hamilton led the Warriors with 19 points and nine boards. He was 7-for-11 from the field. Lustig was 7-for-10 from the floor and added 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Taden King and Carpenter each tallied 11 points and the duo, along with Skaife, all drained three 3-pointers. Smith was 3-for-3 from the field with four assists.
LC State shot 60% (33-55) from the field and netted 10 3-pointers. The shooting percentage is the second-best by the team this season.
Evergreen’s Joseph led the contest with 23 points and Bradley Graham added 19 points. Jamoi Davis grabbed 11 rebounds.
