LEWISTON, Idaho – Dylan Skaife improves with every contest and proved that with a career-high 21 points on Friday. He led the third-seeded LC State Men's Basketball team in scoring to help the Warriors defeat seventh-seeded Multnomah 98-78 in the semifinal round of the 2025 Cascade Conference Men's Basketball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank. The Warriors will face No. 1 College of Idaho in the title game on Monday in Caldwell.
Both
Alton Hamilton and
John Lustig notched double-doubles in the contest and four Warriors scored in double figures. Hamilton grabbed the 500
th rebound of his career in the contest.
"Great team win. We really defended well, especially early in the game which allowed us to get a cushion and play with a lead," coach
Austin Johnson said. "Our starters really set the tone. MaCarhy (Morris) was big all night and ran the show at a high level. Dylan stepped up and was a difference maker in the first half which was awesome to see. John and Alton had their usual complete games. Proud of how we guarded and handled the ups and downs of the game. Very thankful we get another chance to compete as a team Monday night. This is a special group of guys."
The victory was Johnson's 200
th of his career as a collegiate head coach.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Back-to-back layups by Hamilton and Lustig got the offense going for LC State in the first half. Lustig added an and-1 play to grow the lead to 7-3 at 17:18, but the Lions responded to pull ahead 8-7 a minute later. Back-to-back 3-pointers by
MaCarhy Morris and Skaife started an 11-point run, aided by tallies from
Taden King and Hamilton, to give the Warriors a 10-point cushion, 18-8, at 13:38.
The rest of the half was back-and-forth with the teams trading baskets until a triple by King sparked a scoring stretch of eight LC State points to end the frame. A layup by
Gorden Boykins and three free throws by Morris had the Warriors up 52-28 at the break.
Skaife capped the scoring run at 11 points with a 3-pointer to start the second half. Hamilton threw down a dunk to kick start a seven-point rally with a basket by Lustig and 3 by King to push the advantage to 62-30 by 15:43.
A 3-pointer by
Kasen Carpenter kept the advantage around 30 points with 11 minutes to play before the junior dunked with the lead at 76-52 at 8:47. Free throws by Morris and Hamilton had the advantage at 81-54 at 7:04.
An and-1 play by Smith was the final LC State score of the night.
STAT RECAP
Skaife led all scorers with his career-high 21 points. He hit five 3-pointers and blocked two shots. Morris scored 18 points with a 5-for-7 night from the field and 3-for-3 game from 3-point range.
Hamilton and Lustig each notched double-doubles. Hamilton did so with 20 points and 12 boards to go with six assists and two blocks. Lustig scored 14 points with 10 rebounds and five assists.
The Warriors shot 59.6% from the field and 45.8% from 3-point range. LC State made 19 free throws and had 23 assists on 34 made baskets. The defense held Multnomah to 34.7% from the field.
UP NEXT
The Warriors will play for the Cascade Conference tournament title on Monday in Caldwell. Tip off against the top-ranked College of Idaho Yotes is set for 6 p.m. PT.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
