HAVRE, Mont. - In a game that was back-and-forth from the start, it was the No. 13 Lewis-Clark State men's basketball team that came away with a 73-67 win over the Montana State-Northern Lights.

"There was a huge effort by the team tonight," coach Austin Johnson said. "I am very proud of how we responded on a night where we didn't have our best stuff."

A steal for Derrick White turned into the first bucket of the game for Cordel Hankerson giving LC an early 2-0 edge over the Lights. Dana Abe and Trystan Bradley put together five-straight to get the offense going, and with a pair of foul shots Bradley tallied five points in the first three minutes of the game.

Dana Abe and White went back-to-back to widen the lead to 19-12 with 13:05 on the clock, but MSUN quickly responded to even the game at 19 each. Two free throws put the Lights in front 21-19 midway through the period.

Two-straight 3s by MSUN gave the Lights momentum to take a 28-19 lead and force an LC timeout at 8:54.

In the final four minutes of the first half, the Warriors rallied back to outscore the Lights 8-2 and cut the deficit to 38-35 heading into the locker room.

White got the scoring started in the second half to bring LC within one at 38-37, and a 3 from Damek Mitchell kept them within one at 46-45 with 15 to play. The Warriors regained the lead with a powerful dunk by Andre McCowan, putting LC in front 47-46.

David Shedrick answered an MSUN 3-pointer with a three-point play on a basket and free throw to keep the Warriors in the lead at 50-49. The lead changed hands throughout the remainder of the game.

At 8:07 Mitchell gave LC the lead at 58-55 and Race Martin hit a three to extend the advantage to 61-57 with 6:44 to go.

With 3:40 on the clock, the Lights used two free throws to jump in front 64-63. Abe answered with the game-tying foul shot 20 seconds later before putting the Warriors in front 68-66 with under a minute to play. Mitchell drained a pair from the charity stripe to stretch the lead to 70-66 and LC went on to win 73-67.

Bradley led the offense with 16 points, while Abe and White were close behind with 15 and 14, respectively. Mitchell also dropped double-digits with 10 points. Abe led the defense with six boards and Mitchell dished six assists.

"Andre McCowan was a tremendous spark for us that kind of got us going in the second half. Credit to him for staying ready," Johnson said.

The Warriors had seven steals and forced 12 turnovers while committing only six. They outshot the Lights from the free throw line 79 percent (15-19) to 60 percent (9-15).

"We will enjoy this win but our focus is now solely on a very talented Providence team to close out the regular season," Johnson added.

LC concludes the regular season tomorrow night at No. 22 Providence. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. PT.