LEWISTON, Idaho – Senior guard Isaiah Omamogho scored nine of his game-high 22 points in overtime and joined Zavon Jackson with a double-double to help the Lewis-Clark State College men's basketball team defeat No. 9-ranked Montana Western 90-89 at the LCSC Activity Center on Saturday.
 
The Warriors, 17-6 overall and in third place in the league standings at 6-4, have now won four straight games since injuries forced the team to go with a five-guard offense. The loss knocked Montana Western out of a tie for first place in the conference. The Bulldogs fall to 18-4 and 8-2.
 
"That was a good win tonight for our team against a quality club," LCSC coach Brandon Rinta said. "That was a great game. Two quality college basketball teams that were playing well out there. We feel pretty fortunate to be walking away with a win on that one."
 
The Warriors used an excellent second half and strong rushes in overtime to claim the win. The Warriors trailed 44-34 at halftime, but used a 28-8 run to take a 64-55 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.
 
"I can't put my finger on it, other than I think the guys were upset with themselves with how they played in the first half, " Rinta said of the second-half rally. "We came out in the second half with a little more energy. We knocked down some shots early and erased that 10-points deficit."
 
The Warriors led by as much as 11 in the second half, 71-60, but Montana Western responded with a 16-2 run for a 76-73 lead with less than two minutes remaining to set up the wild finish.
 
Omamogho hit a free throw with 1:12 left, and then following a turnover, Ty Higbie hit a 3-pointer at the 1:01 mark to put LCSC ahead 77-76. After a Western miss, Trea Thomas hit a pair of free throws to put LCSC up by three with 37.8 seconds left.
 
Western, however, responded on a 3-pointer by Kooper Kidgell with 28.7 seconds remaining to tie the game. LCSC worked the clock down for the final shot, but Higbie's jumper bounced off the rim to force an extra five minutes of overtime.
 
Things didn't look good for LCSC early in OT as Western went on an 8-5 run for an 87-84 lead with 3:05 left. However, the Warrior defense shut down the Bulldogs the rest of the way from the field.
 
Omamogho hit a 3-pointer to tie it and then scored on a conventional three-point play with1:50 left to put the Warriors back in front at 90-87.
 
"That might have been, at least offensively, Isaiah's best game as a Warrior," Rinta said after Omamogho finished with 22 points, 10 assists, three steals, and two rebounds. "He had a great all-around game."
 
Twice, Montana Western guard Dom Robinson could only make one of two free throw attempts in the final 100 seconds, the last time with 49.6 seconds to cut the lead to 90-89. After an offensive foul gave Montana Western the ball back, the Bulldogs' Riley King missed a shot and LCSC grabbed the rebounds with 1.2 seconds left and eventually ran out the clock after a time out for the win.
 
"We never quit," Rinta said. "We had some moments in the first half and right out of the gate in overtime that didn't go our way, but we hung in there."
 
Along with Omamogho, senior Zavon Jackson also had a big night for LCSC with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists. Omamogho and Jackson both went 7-of-11 shooting from the field and had 15 of the team's 25 assists.
 
"Our passing, I thought, was one of the big differences," Rinta said. "We had great ball movement all night. And to have 25 assists on 30 field goals, that is tough to do, especially against a team as good as Western is."
 
Thomas and Higbie also were in double figures for LCSC with 15 and 14 points apiece, respectively. The team's leading scorer this season, Doug McDaniel, finished with nine. It's only the second time this season he's been held to less than 10 but he also had six rebounds, four assists, and three steals before he fouled out with 3:43 left in overtime.
 
For the night, LCSC was 30-of-65 from the field for 46.2 percent, and 11-of-30 at the 3-point line, 36.7 percent. LCSC also was 19-of-26 at the foul line for 73.1 percent.
 
Western finished 34-of-66 from the field, 51.5 percent, and 9-of-26 at the 3-point line for 34.6 percent. The team also was 12-of-21 at the foul line for 57.1 percent.
 
After Western only had two turnovers in the first half, LCSC forced 12 in the second half and overtime.
 
The Warriors return to action on the road next week for a pair of conference games. On Friday, LCSC will be in Helena, Mont., to face Carroll. The Warriors then travel to Butte to face Montana Tech on Saturday. Both games will tipoff at 6:30 p.m., PST.