LEWISTON, Idaho - There was no stopping the No. 12 Lewis-Clark State men's basketball team Saturday night when it breezed past the MSU-Northern Lights in the Frontier Conference semifinal. Three players dropped 13 points with a total of six in double-digits in the 95-53 victory. The Warriors head to top-seeded No. 9 Carroll College on Tuesday for the Frontier Conference Playoff Championship game.
 
"I am proud of our defensive effort from everybody," coach Austin Johnson said. "The guys who subbed in raised our level. This time of year to be able to have the energy and chemistry to do that is super impressive. It's all them."
 
"These guys are playing with the confidence and the knowledge and wisdom of veterans," Johnson said.
 
The Warriors opened the contest with 10 straight points with baskets from Damek Mitchell, Trystan Bradley and Dana Abe to take a commanding lead after the first six minutes. Free throws from Derrick White and Josiah Westbrook were followed by five straight points from Cory Dollarhide to grow the advantage to 15-6 with 11:51 on the clock. Race Martin kept the hits coming with a triple less than a minute later. Halfway through the opening half, LC led 20-8.
 
LC continued to build its lead throughout the half, including a 13-2 run that had the Warriors on top 35-14 with four minutes to play in the half. Bradley denied a Lights' basket and turned the ball over to Abe who threw down a big dunk to emphasize the lead.
 
The Warriors created chaos all over the court. With just under two minutes on the clock, Dollarhide swiped the ball from a Light and took it all the way to the basket to push LC's cushion to 39-18.
 
At the half, the Warriors led 41-20. Bradley led LC in both points and rebounds at the half with nine and four, respectively.
 
The second half saw even more offense as the Warriors scored 51 points in the period. Cordel Hankerson sparked a seven-point run at 16:46 with a 3, followed by baskets from Abe and Bradley. A 3 by Westbrook sparked a 10-point rally that was capped by Conner Moffatt at 3:39 and put LC up 85-47.
 
The final bucket of the game gave the Warriors their largest lead of the night. Westbrook scored with 47 seconds left to put LC up by 42, 95-53.
 
Bradley, Westbrook and Dollarhide all scored 13 points to lead the Warriors. Martin had 11 points while Abe and Andre McCowan each added 10. Every Warrior scored. Mitchell led the defense with six rebounds and White had five assists.
 
The Warriors shot 61 percent from the field (38-for-62) and held MSUN to a 35 percent (21-for-60) mark from the floor. They out-rebounded the Lights 39-26.
 
Caulin Bakalarski scored a game-high 17 points and Justin Dunsmore had six rebounds.
 
With the win, the Warriors advance to the Frontier Conference Championship at Carroll on Tuesday. They will face the top-seeded Fighting Saints at 6 p.m. PT.