LEWISTON, Idaho – Usually in a sprint race, endurance isn't an important factor. The Montana Tech men's basketball team, however, found that not to be true on Saturday.
 
Getting involved with an up-tempo game with Lewis-Clark State, the Orediggers simply ran out of gas in the second half, which enabled the Warriors to collect a 79-68 Frontier Conference win at the LCSC Activity Center.
 
The Orediggers came into Saturday with a four-game losing streak (seven counting exhibition games) and were scoring an average of 66 points per game, thanks to a patient offense that worked the shot clock.
 
LCSC, however, prefers a fast-pace tempo, something the Orediggers found to their liking as well in the first half of Saturday's contest as they took a 43-41 lead. In the second half, however, Tech managed only 25 points.
 
"I thought in the second half our guys defended with a lot more focus and energy," LCSC coach Brandon Rinta said. "The difference was our defensive execution and intensity in the second half."
 
The Warriors, 12-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play, went on a 20-5 run early in the second half to take a 61-52 lead. Montana Tech, 7-7 overall and 0-3 in league play, managed to cut the lead to five twice, but couldn't get closer.
 
"Energy was the key there in the second half," Rinta said. "You could tell we wanted to speed it up and they wanted to slow it down. It was a little bit of a battle of styles. And it went back and forth for a little bit, but we played with better intensity in the second half."
 
Tech hardly looked like a team that hadn't won a game since before Thanksgiving at the start of the contest. Guard John Chapman scored 15 of Tech's first 21 points to help the Orediggers to an early 21-12 lead. Chapman hit four 3-pointers on his way to 18 points in the first half. In the second half, however, he had just five.
 
"Coming out the way they did and knocking down shots early put us in a hole," Rinta said. "Any time you let someone go for 18 in the first half, they are doing something right. I didn't think we were defending at the level we are capable of in the first half. But I give our guys credit. They kept battling."
 
The Warriors rallied and an eventual 8-0 run helped tie the game at 30 late in the first half. Doug McDaniel, who led the Warriors with 18 points, hit a key 3-pointer while freshman post Connor Desaulniers added three free throws during the run.
 
Tech answered with an 8-0 run of its own and eventually pushed the lead to nine, but six points from McDaniel and a near half-court 3-point shot at the buzzer by Trea Thomas cut the margin to two points at halftime.
 
In the second half, the Warrior defense held Tech to just 22 shot attempts and used turnovers and defensive rebounding to create fastbreak opportunities.
 
"They had zero second-chance points (points from offensive rebounds)," Rinta said. "Those four bigs they rotate are combining for about 100 offensive rebounds this year so to hold them to zero second-chance points is huge."
 
LCSC placed four players in double figures. McDaniel finished with a double-double as he had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Zavon Jackson added 15 points and seven rebounds, while Ty Higbie had 13 points and four boards. Anthony Sullen scored 10 points and had four assists and three steals.
 
"We had different guys step up at different times," Rinta said. "Doug was solid tonight, but I thought Jeremy Franklin, Anthony Sullen and Connor gave us good minutes off the bench.
 
"I'm glad our guys got it clicking in the second half."
 
The Warriors hit the road this week for their first conference games away from the Activity Center. On Thursday, LCSC will be in Billings, Mont., to face Rocky Mountain, and then will be in Dillon, Mont., on Saturday to meet Montana Western.