EUGENE, Oregon – The No. 23 Lewis-Clark State Men's Basketball team battled back from a 44-41 deficit at the half to storm back and beat the Northwest Christian Beacons on the road on Friday night. The Warriors poured in the points in the 102-96 overtime win, led by Hodges Bailey with 26. Trystan Bradley and Damek Mitchell also had career-high nights to help push the Warriors to their second win of the season.

"I am proud of our guys for digging in," coach Austin Johnson said. "To play on the road this early in the season exposes a lot and we'll definitely learn from this."

Bradley opened the scoring a minute into the matchup, then Travis Yenor followed 20 seconds later to give the Warriors a 4-0 lead early. A 3-pointer by Hodges Bailey made it 7-5, but the Beacons answered back to take an 11-9 advantage.

Bailey hit a 3 to even the score 13-13, but Northwest Christian took off on a run to quiet the Warriors. Despite baskets by Daylon Potts and Mitchell, the Beacons stormed ahead to take a 32-22 lead. Bradley sparked a 10-point run with a pair of free throws.
Bailey and Dedrick Pakootas followed with back-to-back 3-pointers, and a bucket from Bailey brought LC within one at 41-42 with under two minutes to play. The Beacons scored once more before heading to the locker room with a 44-41 lead.

Josiah Westbrook and Bradley went back-to-back to start the second half and give the Warriors a 45-44 lead at 18:33. They battled with the Beacons to maintain the lead before Yenor sparked a run of six with four points of his own to give LC a 53-49 edge.

Northwest Christian regained the lead at 11:31, but the Warriors kept it close. A basket by Westbrook at 8:54 brought LC within two at 62-60 and Bradley knotted things up a few seconds later. With four minutes to play the Beacons led 77-72, and free throws by Albright, Mitchell and Bailey kept it close in the final minutes.

Westbrook gave the Warriors the push they needed with a 3 at 2:38 to give LC a 78-77 advantage, and Albright extended it to 80-77 with a second-chance basket. He followed the basket up with a pair of free throws in the final minute. Khalil Stevenson added a bucket and Bailey picked up a pair from the charity stripe to make it 86-83. A last-second shot by the Beacons sent the game into overtime.

Bradley opened overtime as he did regulation to put the Warriors in front 88-86. Two baskets by Albright kept LC State in front by two with 3:27 to play, and Yenor kept the scoring going at 2:11. Northwest Christian tied the score 95-95 with under a minute to play, but a 3 by Yenor and four free throws by Mitchell gave the Warriors a slim edge they needed to earn the 102-96 victory.

Bailey put on a show with 26 points including 13 free throws, five field goals and three 3-pointers. Bradley rattled off a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. Mitchell hit a career-best 10 free throws to finish with 13 points and 10 assists to also notch a double-double. Albright (12 points) and Yenor (11 points) also saw the highest point totals of their Warrior careers.

"Credit to NCU as they exploited some matchups," Johnson said. "We need to get better defensively in a hurry but I'm proud of our fight. Different guys stepped up and that's what it takes."

As a team, the Warriors hits 37 free throws and forced 20 turnovers. They won the rebound battle 51-39 and scored 20 second-chance points.

The Warriors continue their road trip tomorrow when they take on NCAA DIII Willamette in Salem, Ore. At 6 p.m.