LCSC basketball roundup: LCSC men take down Warner Pacific to finish sixth in Cascade

If there was a time to peak, the Lewis-Clark State men’s basketball team is doing it at just the perfect point.

Freshman guard John Lustig, a former Colfax standout, had 18 points, six rebounds and two blocks as the Warriors finished a weekend sweep they needed to have with a 70-65 victory against Warner Pacific (Ore.) at the P1FCU Activity Center.

“Super proud of our guys for clawing back into things the last few weeks,” coach Austin Johnson said. “To finish sixth with everything these guys have battled through is extremely impressive. Lots of heart.”

With the win, the Warriors (14-14, 11-11) finish sixth in the conference standings after heading into the final two games needing a win Friday against Multnomah to guarantee their spot in the conference tournament. They got that in convincing fashion 87-70. But thanks to this one, against the team who entered the game in third place in the conference, LCSC will head to Ashland, Ore., to play third-seeded Southern Oregon at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a quarterfinal-round game.

Sophomore guard Silas Bennion finished with 16 points. Sophomore guard Oreon Courtney had one of his better statistical games of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Davian Brown chipped in 10 points.

Caleb-Tyree Morgan tallied 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Knights (18-9, 15-7), who will be the No. 4 seed in the conference tourney. Thomas Miles contributed 13 points and seven rebounds. Darius Taylor had 12 points and five rebounds.

The Warriors used the momentum they gained from the win against the Lions and continued building on that, exploding to a 17-point advantage two-thirds of the way through the second half and holding off the Knights late.

It didn’t look so promising in the first half, as Warner Pacific had a 23-15 lead with 7:32 left. But the Knights had six of their 13 turnovers the remainder of the half, as LCSC scored eight points off those miscues and used a 20-6 run down the stretch to go into the locker room with a 35-29 advantage.

The Warriors continued to surge at the start of the second half, taking a 45-34 lead after they used a pair of mini-runs in the first 3:15 of play. Bennion’s 3 with 7:58 to go put LCSC in front 59-42.

Things did get interesting late, as Warner Pacific cut what was a 10-point Warrior lead to four with 11 seconds to go on Isaac Fetter’s 3, but Lustig hit a free throw with seven seconds left for the final margin.

WARNER PACIFIC (18-9, 15-7)

Morgan 5-9 3-3 16, Miles 5-13 3-3 13, Traylor 5-10 0-0 12, Etter 2-12 3-3 9, Reber 2-3 0-0 4, Castillo 3-5 0-0 7, Baker 1-3 0-0 2, Gorski 1-1 0-0 2, Moses 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 9-9 65.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (14-14, 11-11)

Lustig 5-10 5-7 18, Bennion 4-8 5-7 16, Courtney 4-6 3-4 11, Brown 4-13 1-2 10, Hunt 4-9 1-2 9, Newsom 1-3 2-2 4, Stockton 1-1 0-0 2, Peoples Jr. 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 17-24 65.

Halftime — Lewis-Clark State, 35-29. 3-point goals — Warner Pacific 8-25 (Morgan 3-7, Traylor 2-4, Etter 2-6, Castillo 1-3, Baker 0-1, Miles 0-4), Lewis-Clark State 7-17 (Bennion 3-3, Lustig 3-5, Brown 1-9). Fouled out — Traylor, Reber. Rebounds — Warner Pacific 35 (Morgan 9), Lewis-Clark State 35 (Courtney 10). Assists — Warner Pacific 7 (Morgan, Traylor 2), Lewis-Clark State 10 (Courtney 3). Total fouls — Warner Pacific 20, Lewis-Clark State 12. A — 471.

WOMENLewis-Clark State 79, Warner Pacific 35

It was a day to sit back and relax mostly for the 10th-ranked Warrior women, as coach Brian Orr emptied the bench and gave all 11 players at least 12 or more minutes of action in a Cascade Conference rout of the Knights at the P1FCU Activity Center.

LCSC (26-2, 21-1) finished the regular season tied with No. 16 Eastern Oregon (26-2, 21-1) for the conference title after the Mountaineers won their 16th consecutive game, an 81-65 victory at Northwest. Eastern Oregon earns the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament that begins Tuesday, but the Warriors will earn the Cascade’s automatic bid into the upcoming NAIA tournament thanks to a coin flip. LCSC will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tourney and will host a quarterfinal-round game at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday against seventh-seeded Corban.

“This was another total team effort, but this one ended with a conference championship,” coach Brian Orr said.

Senior guard Callie Stevens scored her 1,000th career point in the game and had 22 points in 22 minutes for the Warriors. Junior guard Hannah Broyles added 19 points and four steals. Freshman guard Sitara Byrd contributed 11 points and six rebounds.

Alexa Mee had seven points to lead Warner Pacific (3-24, 3-17).

Stevens scored her milestone point with 5:54 left with a free throw.

WARNER PACIFIC (3-24, 3-17)

Mee 3-7 1-3 7, Tonkin 2-7 0-0 6, Brown 2-5 0-0 4, Sales 0-2 0-0 0, Clark 0-6 0-0 0, Rhode 2-11 0-0 6, Mickelson 2-3 0-0 4, Guzman 1-5 1-2 3, Coleman 1-5 0-0 3, Curry 0-1 2-2 2, Sanchez 0-1 0-0 0, Norton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-54 4-7 35.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (26-2, 21-1)

Stevens 7-16 3-4 22, Broyles 6-16 2-3 19, Muehlhausen 3-6 1-2 7, Holm 2-2 0-0 4, Clabby 1-3 0-0 3, Byrd 5-10 1-2 11, Nelson 3-4 0-0 8, Sander 1-5 2-2 4, Wilson 0-1 1-2 1, Hymas 0-2 0-0 0, Green 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-67 10-15 79.

Warner Pacific 7 8 8 12—35

Lewis-Clark State 21 21 23 14—79

3-point goals — Warner Pacific 5-24 (Tonkin 2-5, Rhode 2-10, Coleman 1-4, Guzman 0-1, Sanchez 0-1, Norton 0-1, Sales 0-2), Lewis-Clark State 13-34 (Broyles 5-12, Stevens 5-13, Nelson 2-3, Clabby 1-2, Byrd 0-1, Sander 0-3). Rebounds — Warner Pacific 34 (Mee 6), Lewis-Clark State 49 (Muehlhausen 9). Assists — Warner Pacific 8 (Coleman 2), Lewis-Clark State 22 (Clabby 7). Total fouls — Warner Pacific 16, Lewis-Clark State 13. A — 527.