SALEM, Ore. – John Lustig scored 20 points for the third consecutive contest and the LC State defense held its opponent to less than 10 field goals in the first half to help the visiting Warriors defeat the hosting Corban Warriors 72-64 on Friday. LC State turned the ball over just nine times in the contest.
"Great road win for our guys," coach
Austin Johnson said. "Corban is a physical defense team, and I thought we really handled their pressure well with only nine turnovers. Our first half defense is what won us the game. We were able to get some clean looks from Alton and driving lanes for our guards in the second half. We had great ball movement and got contributions from everyone that played. Tomorrow will be another big-time battle. Excited to see what we do with the opportunity."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Corban scored first to start a back-and-forth first few minutes until a pair of layups by Lustig and
Josh Salguero gave the visiting Warriors the lead for good. A triple by
Dylan Skaife gave LC State a 21-17 advantage at 6:41, but a 3 by Corban kept the score close in the tight first half.
Back-to-back baskets by
Alton Hamilton and Lustig pushed the margin to seven, 27-20, with 3:29 to play in the half, and a 3 by Skaife had the LC State Warriors ahead 32-24 at the break.
Corban started the second half on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 32-20 after two minutes.
MaCarhy Morris got the offense going for LC State with a three-point play, but a pair of baskets made it a one-point game at 35-34 by 16:27. Four points from Lustig and four from Hamilton pushed the margin back to 43-36 three minutes later.
Morris netted a triple to spark a run of seven, aided by a basket by Salguero and dunk by Skaife, for a 52-41 advantage at 10:43. The teams traded baskets with tallies by Lustig, Skaife, Hamilton and Morris helping keep LC State in front by a score of 65-58 with less than two minutes to play.
Hamilton threw down a dunk as part of an and-1 play, then added four free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory.
STAT RECAP
Lustig scored 20 points for the third straight contest and was 9-for-10 from the field. Hamilton added 19 points and nine rebounds, Morris scored 16 with five assists and Skaife tallied 11 points with three 3-pointers.
LC State shot 50.9% from the field and outrebounded Corban 31-25.
UP NEXT
The Warriors conclude the regular season on Saturday at Bushnell (Ore.) at 5 p.m.. LC State will host a quarterfinal matchup of the Cascade Conference Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank, on Feb. 25 in the P1FCU Activity Center.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
