LEWISTON, Idaho – It was a total team effort on Saturday afternoon when the No. 16 Lewis-Clark State men's basketball team defeated the MSU-Northern Lights, 79-63, in the Activity Center. Every Warrior scored in the contest, and five put up double-digits points, led by Damek Mitchell with 15 and a perfect 8-for-8 performance from the free throw line.
 
"I am really happy and proud of Trystan Bradley and Blair Moore and Conner Moffat. Those guys were a huge spark," coach Austin Johnson said. "Northern is hard to play because they shoot so well but they're also really good off the dribble. We were more prepared than we were last time."
 
The Lights held the lead for the first six minutes of the game, charging ahead to gain a 15-14 advantage before a basket from Race Martin put LC in front 16-15 at 12:53. MSUN responded and regained the lead at 21-20 with 10:48 in the half, but David Shedrick and Andre McCowan went back-to-back and the Warriors led 26-21 with 7:13 to play.
 
At the close of the first half, the Warriors led 34-27.
 
Derrick White sparked the offense coming out of the locker room with back-to-back buckets. Bradley sparked an eight-point run with a basket at 13:12 that was capped by a triple from Shedrick three minutes later to push the lead to 58-40. LC kept a consistent double-digit lead over the Lights for the remainder of the game.
 
"That first half was kind of the foundation we needed," Johnson said. "I am proud of our guys. We have a tough schedule ahead, so we are excited but definitely not satisfied."  
 
Mitchell led the offense with 15 points, going 8-for-8 from the charity stripe and, and dished out six assists. Cory Dollarhide was not far behind with 13 points including three 3-pointers on six attempts. Bradley added 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field, and White and Shedrick each dropped 10. Cordel Hankerson led the defense with nine rebounds.
 
MSU-Northern's Caulin Bakalarski led the game with 22 points, including four three-pointers. Adam Huse dropped 12, and Mascio McCadney grabbed six boards.
 
The Warriors shot 53.6 percent from the field and 91.7 percent (11-for-12) from the free throw line while holding the Lights to 43.4 percent shooting and 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from the line. LC outrebounded MSUN 37-28.
 
LC hits the road next week, opening the weekend on Thursday at Carroll at 6:30 p.m. before heading to Rocky Mountain College on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. contest.