LEWISTON, Idaho – Oreon Courtney's career-night helped the No. 20 LC State Men's Basketball team (9-1, 3-0) climb back from a 16-point deficit to earn a 94-71 victory over The Evergreen State College on Saturday night. A big second-half swing by the Warriors propelled the team to its third Cascade Conference win of the season.  
 
"We dug ourselves a big hole tonight by coming out without the urgency needed in a conference game," Head Coach Austin Johnson explained. "Evergreen had a good game plan and executed early. All credit to our guys, though, for finding a way to turn the tide after being down 16 with less than eight minutes to go in the first half. We were a lot tougher inside and more disciplined defensively."
 
Despite baskets from Khalil Stevenson, Kevin Baker and Silas Bennion to open the contest, Evergreen State took a 14-6 lead after the first seven minutes. The Geoducks seemed to hit every shot with six 3-pointers by the 7:45 mark, including four 3s on four attempts by Mikey Hernandez. After free throws by Bennion 7:30, LC trailed 32-17.
 
Oreon Courtney kept the Warriors in mix with eight points in a three-minute span. His layup at 6:40 made it a 12-point difference, and a 3 by Baker brought LC within nine by 6:04.
 
A 14-4 run by LC cut the deficit to 38-34 in the final three minutes before a triple by Bennion and a put-back by Courtney made it a one-point game. The Warriors forced TESC into a shot clock violation to turn the ball over, and Stevenson drained a 3-pointer to give LC State a 42-40 advantage.
 
The momentum carried over into the second half as the Warriors outscored Evergreen 52-31. Baker opened the scoring with eight points in the first two minutes, and Stevenson made it an 11-point margin, 53-42, with a 3 at 17:40. He drained another triple at 15:49 to keep it an 11-point difference before adding yet another 3 to bring the score to 64-52 with 12:49 to go.
 
Al Sommerfield added a 3-pointer at 8:24 in between TESC baskets before Courtney added a layup and blocked a shot to keep the Warriors in control with 7:39 on the clock.
 
Three straight buckets by Sam Stockton, Baker and Will Abram aided LC down the stretch and a layup by Kai Warren helped the Warriors put Evergreen away by a final of 94-71.
 
Courtney led the Warriors with career-highs in points (23) and rebounds (13), and also put up three blocks. He was 10-for-15 from the field. Baker also tallied 23 points and grabbed nine boards, Stevenson added 20 points, and Bennion chipped in 13 points and a team-best six assists. Stevenson hit four 3s and Baker drained three.
 
As a team, LC State shot 54.2 percent from the field and hit nine 3-pointers. The Warriors outrebounded TESC 46-28.
 
"Oreon was special tonight, and Khalil, Silas and Kevin really put us in a position to win down the stretch," Johnson added. "We had more internal leadership and togetherness this week, which is much needed moving forward."
 
Mikey Hernandez had the hot hand for TESC in first half and ended the night with 22 points including a 6-for-8 performance from 3-point range. Austin Curry grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
 
LC State hosts Portland Bible College on Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. in the Activity Center. Tickets and streaming packages are available at lcwarriors.com.
 
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