OLYMPIA, Wash. –
Khalil Stevenson was the leader the Warriors needed in Olympia on Friday night. The senior led the No. 20 LC State Men's Basketball team to an 83-73 come-from-behind victory over The Evergreen State College with a career-high 28 points. LC overcame a 35-32 halftime deficit to earn the 15th victory of the season.
"We came out very flat and Evergreen did a great job of dictating tempo," Head Coach
Austin Johnson said. "We played well enough in spurts to find a way to win and had some guys step up in crunch time. I'm excited to see this group keep battling and learning as we go."
TESC took control early with a 7-0 run to begin the contest.
Oreon Courtney put LC on the board five minutes in, and
Colton Spencer hit a 3 a minute later, but the Geoducks grew their advantage to 19-9 by 10:41.
Stevenson found the basket before assisting
Al Sommerfield to cut the deficit to six, 21-15, with 9:12 to play in the half, and back-to-back buckets by
Kai Warren and
Sam Stockton made it a two-point (25-23) game by 4:39. Stevenson struck for a triple and
Silas Bennion scored to bring LC within one in the final three minutes of the half, and the period closed with another 3 from Stevenson and a free throw by Sommerfield to send the Warriors into the break down 35-32.
A 3 from Stevenson and layup by Courtney got the offense going for the Warriors in the second half. Evergreen pushed its lead back out to 48-41 at 15:09 before back-to-back layups by Courtney, a basket by
Brennen Newsom and a triple by Stevenson put LC State in front by a score of 50-48 with 13:15 to play. Spencer capped the 14-point stretch with a 3 to make it a 55-48 lead by 11:28.
TESC rallied within two before a 3-pointer by Warren, followed by a pair of free throws by Courtney, put LC in control. Sommerfield knocked down a 3 at 3:12 and the Warriors made eight free throws down the stretch to seal with 83-73 victory.
Stevenson led all scorers with his personal-best 28 points. He drained four 3-pointers and eight free throws in the process. The senior also grabbed eight boards, dealt three assists and had three steals.
Courtney added 17 points and grabbed nine boards. Bennion also had nine rebounds and dished out a team-high six assists. Both Courtney and Stockton blocked two shots.
The Warriors head to Kirkland, Wash., next to take on Northwest on Saturday. Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
