BILLINGS, Mont. – Cordel Hankerson's jumper with 2:05 to play brought Lewis-Clark State to within three of Rocky Mountain College but the Warriors weren't able to sustain that surge of momentum and fell 86-80 Thursday evening in Frontier Conference action.
 
"We never stopped fighting," Warrior coach Brandon Rinta said. "We were able to cut the lead to three late. I was proud of our guys for that."
 
The game was a back-and-forth battle in the first half before the Battlin' Bears put together a series of short runs to take a 12-point lead with 13:30 to play. While that was Rocky's largest lead, the Warriors cut the lead back to single digits on a Darius Alexander layup with 12 minutes to play but they never could come closer than the three points off Hankerson's jumper.
 
Rocky (9-5, 1-2) controlled the boards 41-30 and managed 12 points off its 10 offensive boards. The Battlin' Bears also shot 50 percent from the field, while limiting the Warriors (13-2, 2-1) to 44.6.
 
Dana Abe, in his regular-season debut, led the Warriors with 20 points off of eight of 16 from the field (three of six from 3-point range). He added five rebounds and one assist to his totals. Two other Warriors – Race Martin and Alexander, both hit double-digits with Martin finishing with 16 and Alexander with 12. Derrick White led the Warriors on the boards with nine, while Trea Thomas was the assist leader with five.
 
Thursday's game was the first of a two-game road swing with LC traveling to Carroll College for a Saturday night league game.
 
"We have another tough game on Saturday that we need to prepare for," Rinta said.