BUTTE, Mont.  – Ty Higbie scored 11 of his 14 points in the first five minutes of the game to help the Lewis-Clark State College men's basketball team get off to a hot start and never look back in an 88-75 Frontier Conference win over Montana Tech on Saturday night.
 
Higbie's early spurt helped the Warriors go on a 15-0 run to eliminate a 2-0 deficit for a 15-2 lead. Montana Tech did cut the margin to five in the first half, but couldn't get closer the rest of the way.
 
Higbie, a 6-foot-5 senior from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, hit three 3-pointers and also added a jumper to help the Warriors keep their hold on third place in the conference standings. LCSC is now 8-5 in league and 18-7 overall with its fifth win in its last six games. Montana Tech falls to 1-12 and 7-17 with its fourth straight loss.
 
Zavon Jackson and Derrick White also scored early to help the Warriors get off to the hot start. David Shedrick hit a pair of 3-pointers, while Anthony Sullen added another to help LCSC to a 24-6 lead.
 
"I was really impressed with how we came out of the gates tonight," LCSC coach Brandon Rinta said. "Our energy was really good for playing back-to-back nights."
 
LCSC, which had its four-game win streak snapped in a loss a three-point overtime loss to first-place Carroll on Friday night, showed no ill effects from that game in establishing control right away on Saturday.
 
The Warriors put five players in double figures and had a sixth with nine points. Isaiah Omamogho led the Warrior attack with 18 points and went 7-of-7 at the foul line. Doug McDaniel added 14 points and five rebounds, while Higbie also 14. Shedrick had 12 points and five boards. Both Higbie and Shedrick also had four 3-pointers apiece in the game. Sullen added 10 points.
 
"It was great to see Ty and David shoot it like they did," Rinta said. "When they are connecting like that, we are tough to guard. We did a great job of knocking our free throws down tonight, too."
 
Trea Thomas finished with nine points and four assists for the Warriors, while Zavon Jackson led all players with nine assists.
 
For the game, LCSC was 28-of-55 from the field for 50.9 percent and 14-of-26 at the 3-point line for 53.8 percent. The Warriors also made all 18 of their free throw attempts. LCSC also had 22 assists on its 28 baskets.
 
"Zavon, Trea, and Isaiah did a great job of moving the basketball and finding their teammates," Rinta said. "Our ball movement was really good, and we did a good job of taking care of the basketball."
 
Montana Tech was 30-of-62 from the field for 48.4 percent and 9-of-23 from the 3-point line for 39.1 percent.
 
Montana Tech did have a 35-25 rebounding advantage but LCSC also forced 12 turnovers and only had seven.
 
The Warriors have five regular-season games remaining, including three at home. LCSC next plays Thursday night at the LCSC Activity Center against fourth-place Montana State-Northern at 7:30 p.m. MSU-Northern trails LCSC by a half-game in the conference standings.
 
Only the top six teams in the standings advance to the conference tournament. All conference tournament games are played at the team with the best seeding. The top two finishers will receive a first-round bye, while the third and fourth place teams will play home games on March 1.