SALEM, Ore. – No. 19 Lewis-Clark State Men's Basketball closed out its road trip on Saturday with its first loss of the season at the hands of Ottawa (Ariz.). After a fast start by the Warriors, the Spirit came out firing to take control of the contest and take down LC State 76-64.
 
"Credit to Ottawa for dictating the pace and toughness of the game," Head Coach Austin Johnson said. "We struggled to match their intensity and could not keep them out of the paint defensively. Hopefully we can learn from this and take some steps as a team to keep growing as we dive into conference play."
 
Kevin Baker and Khalil Stevenson got the game started for LC State. Baker drained a 3 to open the game and Stevenson scored five straight to give the Warriors an 8-4 lead. OUAZ rallied for a 13-1 run to take a 17-9 advantage by 13:43.
 
The Warriors cut the OUAZ scoring streak with a 3-pointer by Al Sommerfield, but the Spirit responded with a bucket to keep the momentum. The margin grew to 10 points, 22-12, midway through the half. Another run by OUAZ had LC trailing 42-25.
 
Silas Bennion opened the scoring for the Warriors in second half, but the Spirit continued to control the contest. Oreon Courtney and Sam Stockton added to the LC total to bring the score to 49-33 at 14:59.
 
A pair 3-pointers by Colton Spencer and Stockton cut the deficit to 12, 76-64, with 1:24 to play, but LC was unable to overcome the large margin.
 
Spencer led LC State with 11 points to tie his career-high, and Baker notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
LC State returns home next weekend for the first full weekend of Cascade Conference play. The Warriors host Northwest on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Evergreen State on Saturday at 5 p.m. Tickets and streaming packages are available at lcwarriors.com.
 
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