MOSCOW, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State men's basketball team followed the inspired play of junior forward Trystan Bradley to record its second successive victory over Division I University of Idaho, 88-73, Tuesday night at the Vandals' Memorial Gym.
 
"I'm proud of our guys," said coach Austin Johnson, who orchestrated his second victory over the Vandals. "Our guys know they can compete at a high level – and they did."
 
They did it from the outset with the Vandals leading just once – 4-3 in the very early going, and by taking leads of as many 19 points. Despite that near wire-to-wire control, Bradley said it wasn't until the waning moments of the game that he felt comfortable he was going to be a part of the Warriors' back-to-back wins over their neighbor to the north.
 
"Honestly, probably not until the last two minutes," he said when asked about when he felt the Warriors had control of the game (officially an exhibition for both teams). "They're a good team. We kept on the gas. We didn't want to let up at all.
 
"We're a good team and we proved it today."
 
For his own accomplishments – 28 points and 12 rebounds, he passed the credit to his teammates. He said the camaraderie that has developed among the Warriors held the key to the success.
 
"We played well as a team," he said. "We all get along really well. That makes it easy on the court. We all know the person next to us is going to make the right move."
 
Johnson said the total team effort was particularly important against the Vandals as the Warriors battled foul trouble – particularly in the first half.
 
"We had to adapt on the fly," he said. "We had to go to some different lineups because of foul trouble. Guys handled that really well. Different guys stepped up in different spots."
 
Before the first 20 minutes had expired, Johnson has used his entire 12-man roster. That, too, is a tribute to their adaptability when facing adversity.
 
"We just stuck to what we do," he said. "We had to trust that if we are the best version of ourselves, we will have a chance. That's what we did."
 
Where the Warriors truly dominated statistically was from the 3-point and free-throw lines. They shot 44.4 percent (12 of 27) from long range to just 16.7 percent (three of 18) for the Vandals. They also connected on 82.4 percent of their free throws (14 of 17) to 55.2 percent (16 of 29) for Idaho.
 
After trailing on the boards in the first half, LC came back to win that battle, too, 33-32.
 
"I'm proud of our rebounding," Johnson said. "It was just their commitment. The game became more precious and our guys realized what was at stake."
 
Bradley, who Johnson stated without hesitation was "the best player on the floor," was backed by 17 points from Damek Mitchell and 11 apiece from Josiah Westbrook and Hodges Bailey. Mitchell had a big hand in all those points with his 11 assists.
 
The game unfolded with Travis Yenor scoring for the Warriors with a 3. Idaho responded and took a 4-3 lead after a field goal and two free throws. Bailey's 3 returned the lead to the Warriors, who didn't trail again after Bradley's 3 made it three in a row for LC with 16:45 to go.
 
Just a few seconds later, Westbrook added three more points when he was fouled on a 3-point attempt to boost the Warrior lead to seven, 12-5.
 
Idaho cut the lead to 12-8 but, after a series of possession swaps, Westbrook upped the LC lead to 14-8 with 15:02 to go. Daylon Potts pushed the lead to 16-8 when he went inside for a short jumper and Mitchell made it 18-8 when he converted two free throws after being fouled as he drove the lane.
 
Idaho snapped its drought on Quinton Forrest's drive through the lane to make it 18-10 and, after a Warrior turnover, Marquell Fraser converted the opportunity to cut the lead to 18-12. Forrest went inside again to cut LC's lead to 18-14 but Bradley responded with a 3 to push LC back out 21-14.
 
The teams traded baskets with Mitchell scoring for the Warriors to keep the spread at seven, 23-16, before Forrest slipped inside to cut the gap to five, 23-18. Khalil Stevenson scored his first point of the game from the free-throw line for a six-point, 24-18, LC lead.
 
Bradley dropped in a hook shot for an eight-point lead, 26-18. Two free throws from the Vandals made it 26-20. After the Warriors failed to convert on three offensive rebound attempts, the Vandals got the ball and cut the lead to 26-22. Idaho made it 26-24 before the Warriors responded with Bradley's short jumper.
 
The teams continued to trade baskets for the remainder of the half before Mitchell and Bradley hit successive 3s to rebuild the Warrior lead to eight, 38-30. With 4:30 left in the half, Jaxon Hughes was on-target with a 3 for a 41-30 LC advantage. Bailey added another trey seconds later for a 44-30 bulge.
 
Trevon Allen's two free throws helped Idaho cut the lead to 44-32. Fraser made it a 10-point game, 44-34, before Allen returned to the line and made one of two to make it 44-35. Dixon made one of two with 1:58 left in the half for a 44-36 lead before a turnover by the Warriors.
 
Fraser converted a Warrior turnover into a layup and Allen copied him moments later to cut the Warrior lead to 44-40. Conner Moffatt was fouled as time expired in the half and, with one second on the clock, made both for a 46-40 LC lead going into the locker room.
 
The Warriors struck first in the second half on Mitchell's free-throw line jumper for a 48-40 lead. Bailey's 3-pointer extended the lead to 51-40 with 18:29 to play and Yenor made it 53-40 with 17:50 to go. Allen cut the LC to 53-42 on a short baseline jumper. The lead went to 13 again on a Mitchell field goal.
 
Fraser hit one free throw for the Vandals before Bradley drilled a 3 for a 58-43 lead. Fraser followed with a layup for Idaho but Mitchell answered with one for the Warriors for a 60-45 edge. After Westbrook rebounded a Vandal miss, Mitchell once again converted the opportunity to give LC a 62-45 lead with 14:15 remaining.
 
The teams traded baskets before Idaho hit back-to-back on a jumper by Babacar Thiombane and a 3 from B.J. Simmons before Bradley went inside for the Warriors to keep the cushion strong at 66-52. Westbrook added a pair of free throws for a 68-52 lead with 11:44 remaining. He went inside moments later for the 70-52 lead.
 
Simmons snapped the scoring lull when he hit a 3 for the Vandals with 9:30 to play to cut the lead to 70-55. Allen followed with two free throws at 9:04 to made it 70-57. Again it was Allen cutting the margin to 11, 70-59, with a field goal with 8:20 to go.
 
The Warriors refused to budge the rest of the way and outscored the Vandals 18-14 in the final minutes to win going away.