LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State College coach Austin Johnson had praise for his team's determination and grit. What was missing from the 10^th-ranked Warriors' effort in Thursday night's 84-78 Frontier Conference loss to No. 3 Carroll College was the defensive proficiency they need to succeed.
 
"This was our third straight game really struggling on defense," said Johnson after LC dropped to 2-3 in league play, 13-4 overall. "We have to figure it out. Obviously, there's a spark. Our guys didn't roll over and die. They battled until the very end. We just have to find some things that work."
 
One problem for the Warriors was Carroll's 6-8 Match Burnham, who totaled 32 points off 10-of-11 shooting from the field and 11-of-13 from the free throw line. LC's Dana Abe almost matched him from the field with a nine-of-10 performance for his 20 points to lead the Warriors (he also had a pair of free throws).
 
Burnham was the reason for Carroll's lofty 65.1 percent effort from the field – something Johnson noted is a season-long trend for the Saints and a big reason behind their ranking.
 
"They're No. 3 in the country for a reason," he said. "They're a great team. They're well coached. … Credit to Carroll. Statistically, they did tonight what they almost always do."
 
That includes shooting well from the field and from the free throw line, and handling themselves on the boards.
 
The Warriors trailed by six twice in the early going of the first half before Cordel Hankerson set the stage for a back-and-forth battle when he tied the game at 16. From that point on, no more than three points separated the teams until the half ended with Carroll leading 37-34.
 
The Saints outscored the Warrior 9-3 to open the second half but the Warriors cut the gap to five, 48-43, on back-to-back field goals from Mitchell and Abe sandwiched around a block by Josiah Westbrook on Carroll's Dane Warp.
 
Carroll went up by seven, 50-43, before the Warriors pushed back with a 7-1 run to take the lead, 52-51, on Dollarhide's 3-pointer. The Saints built their largest lead of the game, 76-65, with 3:08 to play but the Warriors continued to battle. They cut the lead to four, 82-78, on Mitchell's field goal with 12 seconds to play before Burnham sealed the game for Carroll with two free throws two seconds later.
 
The Warriors are at home for another Frontier Conference game Saturday at 4 p.m. against Rocky Mountain College.