LEWISTON, Idaho – Race Martin's 26 points powered Lewis-Clark State College's men's basketball team to a gritty, hard-fought 77-68 victory over Montana State-Northern and to the top of the league standings Thursday night at the Activity Center.
 
The Warriors trailed 35-30 at halftime but turned the tide with a defensive effort that worked to shut down the Lights offensively while at the same time serving to fuel their own offensive energy.
 
"Our defense helped create some offense," said coach Brandon Rinta, whose team now is 15-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference. "It just got us in a mindset of moving the basketball, playing a little bit of a faster pace even in the half court."
 
Rinta was quick to credit MSUN (13-4, 3-2) for forcing the Warriors out of their preferred style of play.
 
"They're a really good team," Rinta said. "It wasn't a pretty game but that seems to be the case when we match up. It ends up being a fairly physical game. I give our guys credit for getting to the free throw line."
 
The Warriors were 26-of-36 from the free throw line and impressed from the field with a 51.1 percent shooting night. The Lights, who shot 70 percent from the line in the first half, made only half of their second half tries.
 
The Lights stretched their halftime lead to seven, 37-30, as the second half opened. The Warriors responded to cut the gap back to five before a 3-pointer – one of nine by MSUN, pushed the lead back to eight.
 
LC's comeback started when Trea Thomas converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way. Jeremy Franklin followed with a pair of free throws then back-to-back field goals to give the Warriors a 41-40 lead with 16:51 to play. Martin struck from 3-point range to push the lead to four and to start to swing the momentum in the favor of LC.
 
The Warriors steadily pulled ahead and built their biggest lead of 15 (76-61) with 56 seconds remaining on Damek Mitchell's free throws.
 
Martin shot 81.8 percent from the field and made five of eight free throws in reaching 26 points. Mitchell was the only other Warrior to reach double figures with 15 points – 11 of which came at the free throw line. Cordell Hankerson was the top rebounder with five as the Warriors managed a slim edge, 27-26, there. Thomas, as he often is, was the assist leader with five.
 
The Warriors are at home Saturday against Providence. Tipoff is 4 p.m. as the second game of a doubleheader with the Warrior women.