BUTTE, Mont. – Davian Brown was unstoppable from behind the 3-point line on Thursday against Providence. Despite Brown's 8-for-10 night from behind the arc, the LC State Men's Basketball team fell 81-76 at the Montana Tech Fall Classic.
Brown put up big numbers to open the tournament with 32 total points.
"Our guys battled tonight and Davian hit some big shots," Head Coach
Austin Johnson said. "Ultimately, too many missed free throws hurt us, along with some poor stretches defensively. This group has a lot of potential and I am excited to see how they respond tomorrow against a top-10 team."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jaedon Bradley put the Warriors on the board with free throws before adding a triple at 17:29 to keep LC within one at 6-5. A put-back by
Anthony Peoples Jr. put the Warriors in front 7-6, and a 3 by Brown did the same (12-11) at 15:59. Brown capped his own seven-point stretch with another triple to make it 17-14, and a 3-pointer by
Lorenzo Marsh had LC in front 20-17 at 12:46.
Javon Jones tipped a ball back in as the back-and-forth continued. Brown continued his hot streak with a 3 to even the score 26-26 with 7:18 to play in the half. Providence score back-to-back buckets to pull ahead 31-26 before a layup by
MaCarhy Morris dropped in a pair of layups to keep the Warrior within three in the final five minutes of the frame.
Morris and Brown each hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 38-36 in the final two minutes, and another triple by Brown had the score at 44-40 with 40 seconds to go. Peoples Jr. added a layup in the closing seconds to send the Warriors to the locker room trailing 46-42. Brown finished the high-scoring first half with 18 points on a 5-for-5 performance from 3-point range.
John Lustig completed a three-point play to start the second half to cut the difference to one at 46-45 and a layup by Bradley kept LC within one before he hit a 3 to put the Warriors front 50-48 at 14:18.
Providence struck four back-to-back 3-pointers to jump back in front 54-50 before Peoples Jr. answered with a layup at 12:57 to keep it a two-point game. Brown added his sixth 3 of the game to cut the difference to one point with 56-55 30 second later. A 3 by Brown knotted the score 60-60 midway through the half before UP went on a seven-point run to surge ahead by 8:07.
A pair of foul shots by
Javon Jones was followed by a 3 by Brown to bring the Warriors back within four, 69-65, with 7:34 to play.
Five free throws from Brown down the stretch could not erase the deficit as UP closed out the game 81-76.
Brown led all scorers with a career-high 32 points. He was 9-for-13 from the field and 8-for-10 from 3. Bradley and Peoples Jr. each scored 10 points and Marsh and Jones each grabbed five rebounds. Morris dished out four assists.
UP NEXT
The Warriors take on host No. 6 Montana Tech on Friday at 6 p.m. PT in Butte, Mont.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
