BUTTE, Mont. – The No. 3 Lewis-Clark State Men's Basketball team suffered its second loss of the season on Thursday night at the hands of Montana Tech. The Orediggers, fresh off a victory over No. 19 Carroll College, upset the Warriors 67-64. The Warriors, now 25-2 overall and 13-2 in conference play, still lead in the Frontier Conference standings and can clinch the regular-season title at home on Saturday.
 
"We had a great effort from our guys tonight to give us a chance down the stretch, despite not having our best stuff," coach Austin Johnson said. "Ultimately we turned the ball over way too much and allowed them to shoot too many free throws to get the win. We'll have to bounce back quickly as we have more tough games ahead."
 
Damek Mitchell began the game with an easy jumper from 10 feet out, but the Diggers answered with a 3 to take an early lead. Josiah Westbrook made good on a pair of free throws to put the Warriors back in front 4-3 less than two minutes in. Travis Yenor grew the lead to 7-3 with a triple at the 17:22 mark, and Trystan Bradley made it 9-3 30 seconds later.
 
Jake Albright and Yenor fought through a run by Tech to keep the Warriors in front 13-11, and Albright added to the lead with a free throw. Jaxon Hughes drilled a 3 on an assist from Bradley to increase the slim lead to 17-13 at 12:12.
 
Tech rallied to take an 18-17 advantage, and a free throw by Albright knotted things up 18-18. Bradley put the Warriors back in front with a put-back midway through. The Diggers rallied to regain the lead, but back-to-back buckets by Albright and Bradley gave LC a 26-25 lead under the five minute mark.
 
Mitchell found Hodges Bailey to keep LC in the lead with a score of 30-27, and LC State led 32-29 at the half.
 
The Diggers came out of the locker room with momentum, taking a 35-34 lead to open the half. Tech continued to hold the lead throughout the half. The deficit grew to 10 points with under six minutes to play, but a 3 by Bradley cut the Tech lead back down to single digits.
 
Bailey nailed a 3 with 2:40 remaining to make it 63-59, and Albright made it a four-point game at 2:04 (65-61). Westbrook cut it to a one-point deficit with a 3 with under a minute to play, but a foul sent Tech to the line for two points.
 
The Warriors fell 67-64 for just their second loss of season.
 
Albright led the Warriors with 15 points, and Bradley added 14.
 
LC State will host the final home game of the regular-season on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Carroll. Seniors Westbrook and Conner Moffatt will be honored in a pregame ceremony.