DILLON, Mont. – The No. 7 Lewis-Clark State Men's Basketball team (27-3, 15-3) battled to a 70-67 victory in the regular-season finale against Montana Western (11-18, 4-14) on Saturday night in Dillon, and junior guard
Damek Mitchell made history along the way. With his first basket of the night, Mitchell joined a prestigious group at 15:58 with a 3-pointer, putting him over the 1,000-point mark in his career.
The Warriors also tied the record for most wins in a regular season with 27, and the 27-3 record this season is the best in program history.
"It was another gritty win by our guys," coach
Austin Johnson said. "To follow up Thursday's championship-clinching game with another grind-it-out win says so much about these players."
Trystan Bradley scored first with a 3-pointer at 18:34. Western kept it close until a basket by
Khalil Stevenson pushed the lead to three points near the 12-minute mark. The Bulldogs evened the score 12-12 before Stevenson struck again to put LC back in the lead.
A basket by
Travis Yenor at 8:53 sparked a seven-point run that had LC State up 21-13 by 7:28. Bradley drained his second 3 of the game at 6:38 to grow the advantage to 24-15, but the Bulldogs battled back to keep it close. Yenor made good on his third triple of the night at 2:05 in the first half to give LC a five-point cushion at 32-27, and the Warriors led 32-29 at the end of the first 20 minutes.
Western tied the game 32-32 out of the break, and Bradley put LC back in the lead with a bucket at 18:39. UMW took a one-point lead at 16:10 on a 3-pointer, but the Warriors quickly answered with a bucket from Bradley. LC led 38-37 at the 15:56 mark.
The lead changed hands multiple times until Yenor started a 10-point rally at 9:55. Yenor scored seven of the 10, with
Josiah Westbrook adding a 3 to cap it at 57-51. The large cushion did not last long as UMW rallied to pull within two (62-60) at 3:08. The Bulldogs tied it 62-62 with 1:49 to play.
Albright made two free throws to give the Warriors a slight 64-62 edge over UMW, and a dagger 3 by Mitchell pushed the lead to 67-62 as the clock ticked down. Free throws by UMW cut the LC advantage to 70-67 with two second to go, but the Warriors hung on to win.
Mitchell had a historic night all-around. The junior joined the 1,000-point club with his first basket of the night and now has 1,015 points in his career. He tied a career-high with his team-high 11 rebounds in the contest, and is now fourth all-time in 3-pointers made with 142.
Yenor led the Warrior with 22 points in the game including four 3-pointers. Mitchell dropped 17 points, Albright scored 14 and Bradley added 10.
"Travis had another outstanding performance and kept us in rhythm early," Johnson explained. "Damek was outstanding in running the show. Jake had a terrific bounce-back game. Overall I can't praise this group enough for their toughness and togetherness. They proved throughout the conference season that they'd do whatever they could to win and followed it up every night. This is just a tremendous group that plays with confidence and joy."
The Warriors shot 45.6 percent from the field (26-for-57).
LC State clinched the top seed in the Frontier Conference tournament with its win on Thursday, also securing a first-round bye. For more information on the Frontier Conference Tournament, stay tuned to lcwarriors.com.
