The Lewis-Clark State basketball teams hosted a Cascade Conference doubleheader Friday at the P1FCU Activity Center, with the women winning in what possibly was the game of the year so far against No. 20 Eastern Oregon.

The game saw five lead changes before senior post Sara Muehlhausen hit the game-winner from the right wing with 12 seconds left in regulation to seal the 10th-ranked Warriors’ 71-69 victory against the Mounties to surge into first place all by themselves..

“We haven’t run that play all season long and we were able to get that off,” Lewis-Clark State women’s basketball coach Brian Orr said. “Our girls did a good job of getting her the ball and she didn’t hesitate.”

Sophomore guard Ellie Sander, who finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, had her third steal of the game and found junior forward Maddie Holm for a layup to put LCSC in front 69-67 with 1:51 remaining.

“We really think (Sander) can be an All-American for us,” Orr said. “She’s one of the best athletes on the team and her confidence just grows and grows with every game.”

In the nightcap, the Lewis-Clark State men fell to Eastern Oregon 79-73. Davian Brown paced the Warriors with 21 points.

Here’s what we learned:

3-pointers taken away

Coming in, Eastern Oregon’s women were ranked third in the NAIA in 3-point percentage, knocking down 39.6% of their long balls.

But at halftime of this one, the Mounties (10-2, 5-1) were 0-for-6 from distance.

“It says a lot about our defense that they didn’t get anything off in the first half,” Orr said. “We knew that they were going to come out in the second half and make some long shots.”

Eastern Oregon slowly started hitting shots from beyond the arc, but found its range in the fourth quarter.

Sailor Liefke nailed a 3 to pull the Mounties within 65-61 with 4:13 to go in regulation. Bayley Brennan then hit 3s on back-to-back possessions to complete a nine-point run and gave Eastern Oregon its first lead since the first quarter at 67-65 with 3:12 remaining.

Glass work needs some work

The sign of a good team isn’t what they do well but what they manage to overcome.

Eastern Oregon held a major advantage on the offensive glass, outrebounding the Warriors 30-11.

That was the bad news for LCSC (11-1, 6-0). The good news? The Mounties couldn’t take advantage, only scoring 14 second-chance points.

The Warriors, on the other hand, also had 14 second-chance points on 19 fewer rebounds.

LCSC also held a 12-3 advantage in fast-break points.

“You have to give (Eastern Oregon) credit they crashed the boards,” Orr said. “We were able to finish our second-chance opportunities a little bit better than them.”

Too many turnovers

Almost every team that hits almost 60% of their shots from the field is expected to win. But a team that commits 20 turnovers more often than not loses.

The Lewis-Clark State men did pull off that trick against Eastern Oregon.

The first half was pretty clean for the Warriors (6-6, 3-3) as they only committed eight miscues as they went to the locker room tied at 32 with the Mounties (8-4, 5-1).

In the second half, LCSC had 12 turnovers, including five as Eastern Oregon went on a 14-0 spurt in a 3:14 stretch midway through to create separation.

“I’ve never lost a game where we’ve shot 59% from the field,” Lewis-Clark State men’s coach Austin Johnson said. “The 20 turnovers were the killer, and it’s hard to be excited because of that fact.”

Homecoming of sorts for Taylor

The crowd for the game was a bit bigger than normal, thanks to the return of Lapwai High School graduate Emmitt Taylor.

Taylor, a senior, finished with 19 points. He left Division I Idaho State after last season and joined the Mounties.

In 11 games this season, including four starts, he’s third on the team at 13.6 points per game, adding 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals.

“He’s someone that I’ve tried to bring here,” Johnson said. “He’d go to all of the camps in the summer and he always has the green light. He’s the type of player that can go off at any time.”

MEN

EASTERN OREGON (8-4, 5-1)

Malatare 6-14 8-8 20, Chandler 0-2 1-2 1, Valdez 2-5 0-2 4, Orr 2-3 3-3 9, Huddleston 2-2 0-1 5, Taylor 8-15 0-0 19, Afework 2-4 5-6 9, McGinnis 2-3 0-0 4. Jeske 4-6 0-0 8. Totals 28-54 17-22 79.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (6-6, 3-3)

Brown 6-12 6-7 21, Bennion 5-9 1-3 12, Courtney 0-1 1-2 1, Hunt 4-5 0-1 8, Crosby 1-2 0-0 3, Lustig 3-5 5-5 13, Stockton 1-2 0-0 2, Chaney 1-1 0-0 3, Peoples Jr. 5-7 0-0 10. Totals 26-44 13-19 73.

Halftime — 32-32. 3-point goals — Eastern Oregon 6-17 (Taylor 3-9, Orr 2-2, Huddleston 1-1, Malatare 0-1, Chandler 0-2, Afework 0-2), Lewis-Clark State 8-15 (Brown 3-5, Lustig 2-4, Chaney 1-1, Crosby 1-2, Bennion 1-3). Fouled out — Peoples Jr. Rebounds — Eastern Oregon 24 (Malatare 5), Lewis-Clark State 27 (Lustig 6). Assists — Eastern Oregon 13 (Malatare 4), Lewis-Clark State 14 (Bennion 6). Total fouls — Eastern Oregon 18, Lewis-Clark State 23. Technicals — Chandler, Warren. A — 1,044.

WOMEN

EASTERN OREGON (10-2, 5-1)

Brennan 7-16 0-0 19, Liefke 6-17 0-0 13, Holecek 3-10 1-1 8, Slater 2-11 4-5 8, Burgess 3-8 0-0 6, Robinett 5-8 2-4 12, Waiwaiole 1-3 0-0 2, Wright 0-1 1-2 1, Harris Shaw 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 27-78 8-12 69.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (11-1, 6-0)

Sander 7-13 5-6 19, Muehlhausen 6-8 0-0 12, Broyles 3-11 3-4 10, Holm 2-11 4-4 9, Stevens 1-7 0-0 2. Byrd 3-6 1-1 7, Hymas 2-6 2-2 6, Green 1-2 2-2 4, Nelson 1-2 0-0 2, Clabby 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-67 17-19 71

Eastern Oregon 13 18 17 21—69

Lewis-Clark State 18 21 12 20—71

3-point goals — Eastern Oregon 7-29 (Brennan 5-12, Holecek 1-6, Liefke 1-8, Robinett 0-1, Harris Shaw 0-2), Lewis-Clark State 2-14 (Holm 1-3, Broyles 1-5, Byrd 0-1, Stevens 0-2, Sander 0-3). Rebounds — Eastern Oregon 57 (Slater 18), Lewis-Clark State 39 (Holm 10). Assists — Eastern Oregon 18 (Holecek 4), Lewis-Clark State 12 (Stevens 3). Total fouls — Eastern Oregon 17, Lewis-Clark State 15. A — 717.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.