PORTLAND, Ore. - The Warriors continued their road trip with another win on Saturday night with big performances from Dana Abe and Race Martin. The senior duo combined for 49 points in the 83-72 victory over the NCAA DIII Lewis & Clark Pioneers in Portland, Ore., with Abe dropping a career-high 25.
The Warriors and Pioneers played an even first half, tying the score five times. LC took their first lead of the game at 9:36 when Abe hit a layup to put the Warriors in front 18-17. The Pioneers regained momentum to take the lead, but a free throw from Abe and a layup from Derrick White kept the game close at 29-27 with 3:24 to play.
Abe threw down a huge dunk with under two minutes to go before draining a free throw to bring LC within one at 31-30 heading into halftime.
Cordel Hankerson gave the Warriors the lead to start the second half with a quick basket out of the gate. Josiah Westbrook followed with one of his own to grow the lead to 34-31 a minute into the half. Hankerson and White went back-to-back to push the advantage to 38-35.
Martin scored three times within a two minute span, including a three, before Andre McCowan threw down a dunk at 12:25. Martin scored 10-straight Warrior points, beginning with layup at 9:05 and ended with another at 6:55. The run included two threes and gave LC a 63-52 advantage. Abe threw down his second dunk of the game at 4:12 to give the Warriors full control of the game.
The Warriors continued to roll to an 83-72 victory.
"Tonight was a tough game for the full 40 minutes. Credit to L&C for coming out and dictating the tempo and pace early," Head Coach Austin Johnson said. "It wasn't our prettiest game, but we dug in and got stops and rebounds down the stretch again."
"This group won two road games in less than 24 hours which is a testament to the toughness we're capable of having," Johnson said. "It was a total team effort. We'll move forward and prepare for two tough league games this upcoming week."
Abe and Martin combined for 49 of the Warriors' 83 points in the contest. Abe dropped a career-high 25, and Martin a season-high with 24. Martin hit 10 of 15 from the field, including 4-for-5 from three-point range. Abe was 9-for-14 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free throw line.
Hankerson and Mitchell each dropped 10 points, and Hankerson led the defense with seven rebounds while Mitchell was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
The Warriors open Frontier Conference play at home on Thursday when they host Montana Tech at 7:30 p.m. in the Activity Center.
