LEWISTON, Idaho – No matter that his Warriors didn't shoot the ball very well or that they committed a dozen turnovers, Lewis-Clark State coach Austin Johnson could muster a smile after his team won its Frontier Conference opener Thursday night at the Activity Center.
 
Two Warriors reached double-figure scoring and another two doubled on the boards en route to the 60-42 decision over Montana Tech.
 
"I'm really happy with the effort," said Johnson after LC improved to 7-2 overall with its 1-0 league mark. "We played through foul trouble. We played through mistakes. We played through turnovers. We played through missed shots.
 
"But we did some good things. Ball pressure in the half court was good. We defended the 3 at a level I'm really pleased with. I've never had a team shoot 35 percent from the floor and still win – but we'll take it."
 
About that 35 percent (actually 35.1 on 20 of 57 shooting). Neither team could find a rhythm early on. Tech struck first but it wasn't until Nate Ward's 3-pointer with 18:03 to go in the opening half. The Orediggers tacked on another field goal before the Warriors responded with Dana Abe's 3 with almost five minutes elapsed to make the score 5-3 with15:36 left in the half.
 
The Warriors took the lead on Derrick White's inside jumper for a 7-5 edge with 11:36 remaining. LC finally found some flow and outscored Tech 17-9 over the final six minutes of the half to take a 28-19 advantage into the locker room.
 
Tech scored the first points of the second half but that was almost it for the Orediggers as the Warriors outscored them 16-3 over the next nine minutes to take control. A great deal of the low-scoring scenario, Johnson said, was because the Tech's style of play.
 
"It's going to be a low possession game when you play Montana Tech," he said. "Every stop you can get is a breath of fresh air. It's big."
 
Where the Warriors truly dominated was on the boards – they allowed Tech just one offensive rebound in the second half, and their ability to defend the 3. Overall, with 11 from David Shedrick and 10 from Cordel Hankerson, LC had a 51-30 rebounding advantage. As a team, the Warriors (the NAIA leader in 3-point defense) held Tech to 21.4 percent from 3-point range, which includes 12.5 (one of eight) in the second half.
 
"I credit our players big time," Johnson said. "We changed our defensive strategy. I've been really pleased to see our guys buy in."
 
Just two Warriors – White with 11 and Abe with 10, reached double figures as LC scored at only two-thirds of its season average of 91.6 points per game.
 
Tech's Taylor England led all scorers with 14 points and Derrius Collins had eight rebounds.
 
LC is on the road at Saturday for a 3 p.m. Frontier Conference game against Montana-Western.  Ech'
 
NOTES: Tech's 60 points were the fewest by a league opponent since 2006 when the Warriors held Montana State Northern to 41.