Warriors fall to top seed in conference championship

In the opening minutes of play, the third-seeded Lewis-Clark State Warriors looked every bit like a serious upset threat as they raced ahead of No. 1 College of Idaho in the Cascade Conference Tournament men’s basketball final on Monday at the Yotes’ home court in Caldwell, Idaho.

Ultimately, the momentum did not last. College of Idaho pulled ahead midway through the first half, then widened its lead substantially within the last 15 minutes of regulation en route to an 86-69 victory.

“I thought for 40 minutes we competed, which is what you want,” Warriors coach Austin Johnson said. “There are no moral victories, but there are definitely some positives to take away.”

LC State will await word of its potential at-large bid to the NAIA’s national tournament, with the draw to be announced Thursday.

Lustig leads the way

John Lustig sparked the early surge that saw LC State (24-7) go ahead 9-2. The Colfax Bulldog alum and Warrior junior who passed the thousand-collegiate-career-points threshold less than a week ago quickly added to that tally, scoring the first four points of the game and amassing 12 over the first half in spite of being slowed down by glimmers of foul trouble.

“He had a really, really good game,” Johnson said of Lustig. “(The foul trouble) kind of hurt us; I thought we were playing pretty well, and he got called for a second foul pretty early in the game. It wasn’t the difference in the game, but he was playing really well before having to sit for a bit in that first half.”

Lustig started the second half much the way he had the first, driving in for a layup on the opening possession that helped LC State briefly reestablish a sense of momentum. He cooled off a bit in the latter stages of the game and wound up in the danger zone with four fouls, but still finished the night with a team-high 20 points off 10-for-15 shooting from the field while snagging five rebounds.

Yotes strike back

College of Idaho struck back quickly after the Warriors’ hot start, turning it into a one-possession game by the time four minutes of play had elapsed. The Yotes pulled ahead with about 11 minutes remaining in the first half and soon widened the gap, heading into intermission up 43-33.

The key difference between the teams in the opening half came from 3-point shooting. LCSC had a highly efficient 11-for-18 mark on the inside, but struggled beyond the arc, going 1-for-9. The Yotes, by contrast, were less precise from two-point range at 12-for-24, but went an impressive 5-for-9 from 3.

“They had a couple guys that statistically don’t make 3s go a combined 4-for-6,” Johnson said. “They shot it well and played like the No. 1 team in the country.”

LC State pulled within two possessions at 43-37 coming out of the break, but the Yotes promptly responded with two baskets of their own — the latter a Tyler Robinett slam dunk that energized the partisan C of I crowd as he hung from the hoop in its aftermath and seemed to cement the favorites’ momentum.

Soon, the Warriors were battling not to pull within a possession or hang within single digits, but to keep the Yotes from winning by more than 20 points.

By the numbers

Alton Hamilton had a characteristic double-double for LCSC, putting up 17 points with the help of a perfect 11-for-11 showing from the foul line while collecting 13 rebounds. Freshman Jayceon Smith also gave the Warriors a double-digit boost, totaling 11 points.

College of Idaho’s Drew Wyman led all scorers at 21 points, while teammates Johnny Radford (17), Robinett (13) and Samaje Morgan (12) backed him up.

Hamilton’s heroics notwithstanding, the Yotes won the overall rebound battle decisively at 36-26, and that translated to more scoring opportunities — LC State finished the game 24-for-51 (47.1%) from the field to C of I’s 34-for-62 (54.8%). The Yotes were even more dominant in assists, outstripping the Warriors 23-6.

“We were having to play small-ball because of injuries, and they’re pretty big,” Johnson said. “They made us pay on the post, made us pay in the glass.”

The only major statistical advantage for LC State came from free throws, with the Warriors going 18-for-23 to the Yotes’ 9-for-14. This was their third loss of the season to College of Idaho, finishing with a nearly identical scoreline to the teams’ 85-69 encounter on Dec. 21.

“Hopefully, we can leave the bad stuff and take the good stuff with us as we prepare for the national tournament,” Johnson said. “Proud of our guys for getting to the championship game, and excited to see what’s next for them.”

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (24-7)

John Lustig 10-15 0-2 20, MaCarhy Morris 2-4 4-4 8, Alton Hamilton 3-7 11-11 17, Tayden King 2-7 2-5 6, Dylan Skaife 1-5 1-2 3, Kaysen Carpenter 1-3 0-0 3, Jayceon Smith 5-6 1-2 11, Gorden Boykins 0-2 0-0 0, Kellen Jedlicka 0-0 0-0 0, Peyton Nordland 0-1 1-2 1, Josh Salguero 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 18-23 69.

COLLEGE OF IDAHO (29-2)

Samaje Morgan 4-9 2-2 12, Johnny Radford 5-7 2-4 17, Straton Rogers 2-3 1-2 5, Drew Wyman 9-16 1-1 21, Tyler Robinett 6-8 0-0 13, Caden Handran 1-2 0-0 2, Utrillo Morris 3-4 2-2 8, Isaac Mercer 0-1 0-0 0, CJ Mann 0-0 0-0 0, Paul Wilson 4-6 0-0 8, Alex Germer 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Tinney 0-0 0-0 0, Micah Mendiola 0-0 0-0 0, Bryan St. Clair 0-0 0-0 0, Dougie Peoples 0-6 0-2 0. Totals 34-60 9-14 86.

Halftime — CI 43, LC 33. 3-point goals — LC 3-13 (King 2-5, Carpenter 1-3, Skaife 0-2, Morris 0-1, Nordland 0-1, Boykins 0-1), CI 9-19 (Morgan 2-4, Radford 2-4, Wyman 2-3, Morris 2-2, Robinett 1-1, Mercer 0-1, Peoples 0-4). Rebounds — LC 26 (Hamilton 13), CI 36 (Wyman 8). Assists — LC 6 (Hamilton, Lustig, King, Skaife, Morris, Boykins), CI 23 (Morgan 5). Total fouls — LC 13, CI 20. Attendance — 1,627.