PORTLAND, Ore. - After a strong start, the No. 17 Lewis-Clark State Men's Basketball Team had to play a bit of catch up before storming past No. 23 (NAIA DII) Warner Pacific to win 84-63. They dropped 29 points in the final 10 minutes of the contest and were led by Dana Abe's 18 points.

"I am very proud of our team effort tonight," Head Coach Austin Johnson said. "Everyone that played contributed and our depth and unselfishness were on display."

Race Martin sparked the Warriors' offense in the opening half, striking for five-straight points on two baskets and a free throw, to give LC a 5-2 lead two and a half minutes in. Cordel Hankerson and Damek Mitchell continued the Warriors' 10-0 run to put LC up 10-2 with 16 to play. Warner Pacific went on a small rally to cut the LC lead to three at 16-13 with 8:44 on the clock, but two buckets from Abe kept the Warriors in front.

The Knights rallied to trail LC 33-31 with 1:47 to play in the first half, but Andre McCowan completed a three-point play with a bucket and a free throw to grow the lead back to five a 36-31. Martin found Abe for one more basket and the Warriors headed to halftime leading 38-33.

Warner Pacific came charging back in the second half and tied the contest with 17 minutes to play. After the Knights took a 45-43 lead, LC answered back with baskets from Abe and Trystan Bradley to jump back in front 51-49 at the 14:20 mark. Hankerson hit a three a minute later to increase the advantage to 54-49 and the Warriors held the lead for the rest of the game.

The Warriors dropped 29 points in the final 10 minutes of the game to surge past the Knights for their fifth win of the season. A seven-point LC run was capped by a triple from David Shedrick to grow the lead to 62-50 with just under eight to play. A pair a free throws by Abe sparked a second run of seven unanswered points, capped by a pair of free throws by Shedrick, and the Warriors led 73-54 with 4:57 on the clock. Josiah Westbrook hit a three to finish off an eight-point run and LC coasted to an 84-63 victory.

"We settled in defensively and on the glass in the second half and that helped us carry a rhythm to the offensive end. Dana was special tonight and showed what he's capable of when he's in attack mode," Johnson said. "We have a quick turnaround tomorrow and need to take another step defensively."

Abe came off the bench to lead LC in scoring with 18 points, more than half of the Warriors' 30 points off the bench. Shedrick, Westbrook and Martin contributed 13, 12 and 11, respectively, and Hankerson dropped 10. Mitchell tied a career-high with nine assists.

As Johnson mentioned, the Warriors face a quick turnaround with another non-conference matchup tomorrow night. The Lewis-Clark State College Warriors will stay in Portland to take on the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers tomorrow at 3 p.m.