BILLINGS, Mont. – Lewis-Clark State College men's basketball team had one of its best outings of late in dispatching Rocky Mountain 90-64 in a Frontier Conference regular-season finale Saturday night.
 
The Warriors had an outstanding shooting night (54.1 percent from the field, 33.3 from 3-point range) and played with precision and efficiency with just seven turnovers to go with 14 assists and seven steals. It was the type of game they needed as they head into Frontier Conference Tournament action as the No. 3 seed. They take on No. 6 Providence Tuesday night at 7 at the Activity Center.
 
"That was a great defensive effort by this team," coach Brandon Rinta said after the Warriors wrapped up the regular season 22-8, 11-7. "Rocky is a good team and for us to hold them to 64 points and 36 percent from the floor was reflective of how important this game was to us."
 
Dana Abe led a contingent of five Warriors in double figures with 18 points, which included three dunks. Trea Thomas had 16, Jeremy Franklin had 14, and Damek Mitchell and Derrick White had 10 each. Franklin was the rebound leader with nine; Abe had eight.
 
"We needed to rebound well," said Rinta, whose team finished with a 37-34 edge on the boards, "and Jeremy and Dana came up big in that area.
 
"Offensively, Jeremy, Dana and Trea carried us but it was just as much us moving the ball as a team and having 14 assists and only seven turnovers."
 
The Warriors took control with 10 minutes elapsed in the first half. Abe ignited a run that began with a six-point, 25-19, lead and wound up with LC ahead by 19 less than five minutes later. Like the rest of the game, Warriors from every corner contributed in the run in the form of points, rebounds or steals.
 
By halftime, they led by 23, 51-28. Rocky would close to within 14 on a couple occasions in the second half but the Warriors always responded and twice had 30-point leads en route to the final 26-point spread.
 

• Tickets for Tuesday's quarterfinal go on sale Monday morning at 8. Reserved seats are $10 and general admission is $5.

 

• Other first-round games are No. 2 Montana-Western vs. No. 7 Montana Tech and No. 4 Montana State-Northern and No. 5 Rocky. Carroll won the regular-season title (its two victories over Montana-Western gave it the advantage in the tiebreaker) and the first-round bye that goes with it.