LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State Men's Basketball returned to the court on Sunday afternoon with a new look, but the same intensity as years past. The Warriors opened the 2021-22 campaign with an exhibition against the semi-pro Seattle Mountaineers and came away with a 97-76 victory. LC broke a 40-40 tie at the half and outscored the Mountaineers 57-36 in the second.
 
"Today was a great early opportunity to see where we're at as a team," Head Coach Austin Johnson said. "Our opponent put a lot of pressure on us to defend the drive and really put us in some challenging positions, especially in transition. I was pleased with how we responded at half and our guys played with more focus and togetherness. This game was exactly what we needed to learn and build off of as we got contributions from everyone."
 
Colton Spencer got his season started with a 3-pointer less than a minute in, but the Mountaineers responded to take an 11-8 lead. A pair of free throws and a layup by Nathan Fromm put the Warriors back in front 14-13 before the junior added a 3 to make it 17-15 at 12:34.
 
The Mountaineers rallied to gain a 29-26 advantage before back-to-back 3s from Al Sommerfield and Fromm gave LC a slim 32-29 lead with 6:09 to play in the half. A run of five by the Mountaineers put the Warriors at a two-point deficit, but a dunk by Oreon Courtney tied things up just before the break.
 
LC State found its groove in the second half with 36 points off the bench; double what the Mountaineers produced. After a triple by Spencer to give the Warriors a 45-42 lead at 18:28, Silas Bennion sparked a six-point rally that included four points from Courtney to make it 51-44 just over two minutes in.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Sommerfield and Khalil Stevenson, both on assists from Bennion, kept the offense rolling for the Warriors with a 64-50 cushion with 11:45 to play. Stevenson added five straight points a minute later, and Sommerfield hit his fourth 3 of the game at 10:10 to push the lead to 72-54.
 
Kai Warren made his LC debut off the bench and drained a 3 at the 5:44 mark to give the Warriors a 20-point advantage, and Joel Meske closed out the scoring with a layup in the final 30 seconds.
 
Fromm led all scorers with 20 points in the contest and was 7-for-11 from the field. Sommerfield added 14 points on four 3-pointers with five assists, and Stevenson put up 13 points to go with his team-leading nine boards.
 
Bennion had a strong day all-around with 11 assists, nine points, eight rebounds and two steals.
 
As a team, the Warriors shot 45.8 percent from the field, 44.1 percent from 3-point range and 84.2 percent from the line. The defense held the Mountaineers to just 16.7 percent from behind the arc.
 
The Warriors take on Yellowstone Christian on Oct. 27 and 28 in their first official games of the season. Both games will start at 5:30 p.m. Tickets and season passes are available on lcwarriors.com/tickets.
 
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