LEWISTON, Idaho – Senior guard Doug McDaniel posted his first double-double in a Lewis-Clark State College uniform to help the 15^th-ranked Warrior men's basketball team open Frontier Conference play with an 87-65 win over the University of Great Falls at the LCSC Activity Center on Thursday night.

McDaniel finished with game highs of 23 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, and also had two blocks and a steal, to help the Warriors improve to 9-2 on the season and drop Great Falls to 6-2.

The 6-foot-2 McDaniel, who is LCSC's leading scorer at 19 points per game, has scored in double figures in all but one game this season.  Thursday marked the seventh time in the 12 games he has topped 20 points.

McDaniel also came up big on the boards as LCSC, despite being smaller, held a 47-32 rebounding edge. It's the first time in his two years at LCSC that McDaniel has finished in double digits in rebounds in a game.

"I thought Doug played really well tonight," LCSC coach Brandon Rinta said. "That was a great game for him."

McDaniel, who hit 7-of-11 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 from the 3-point line, scored LCSC's first 10 points of the second half. That spurt helped the Warriors turn a 40-33 halftime edge into a 50-38 advantage.

Great Falls cut the lead to nine at 52-43, but LCSC proceeded to go on a 24-8 run over the next seven minutes to take control of the game.

"We had a few more turnovers than I would have liked, but when it mattered most, there in that 10- minute stretch of the second half, we took care of the basketball and were able to capitalize on their pressure," Rinta said.

Great Falls tried to keep up with LCSC by pressuring the basketball in the backcourt, but LCSC was able to break the pressure and attack the basket in the second half, which led to several layins. The Warriors scored more than half of their points (46) in the paint.

"What we needed to do a better job of was just moving without the basketball," Rinta said. "Versus pressure like that, sometimes it forces you to play one on one and we fell into that a little bit in the first half. I thought we moved the ball better in the second half."

Junior guard Anthony Sullen scored 10 of his 12 points during the second-half run, using his quickness to get to the basket. Fellow guard Jeremy Franklin (eight points) and Derrick White (six) also were successful in attacking the basket during the run. In all, the three combined to 12-of-16 from the field.

As usual, it was the Warrior defense that helped create several of the fastbreak opportunities and drives to the basket. Great Falls entered Thursday night scoring an average of 88 points a game and having at least 81 points in every game.  Against LC, the Argonauts didn't hit 40 points until six minutes into the second half.

"Points aside, to hold them to 31 percent from the floor and 28 percent from the 3-point line, that is what we are going to have to do," Rinta said. "We have to defend and we have to defend well. That creates our offense, and in order for us to be successful, that is going to be a huge key for us."

Great Falls finished just 22-of-70 from the field (31.4 percent) and 5-of-18 from the 3-point line (27.8 percent). LCSC was 34-of-61 (55.8 percent) and 7-of-18 from the 3-point line (38.9 percent).

Senior Ty Higbie added 14 points for LCSC, while freshman post Connor Desaulniers added eight points. Senior forward Zavon Jackson had nine rebounds and four assist. Both Desaulniers and Jackson did well defending Great Falls' 6-9 post Andrej Slavik, who wound up with just nine points after he scored the first seven of the game for UGF.

"This game was really important," Rinta said. "It's the first league game and hopefully it sets the tone, especially against a team like Great Falls. I think they are a really good team."

The Warriors will see another good team Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Activity Center when undefeated Montana State Northern comes to town. MSU-Northern is 6-0 after it defeated Montana Tech 76-62 in its league opener Thursday night.