LA GRANDE, Ore. – Alton Hamilton notched his ninth double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds to help LC State Men's Basketball fight off a late comeback by Eastern Oregon on Saturday. The Warriors also had a career-high 12 points from
Dylan Skaife and had four players in double-digits in the 78-73 victory.
"A true team win for our guys," coach
Austin Johnson said. "We gutted it out and had to find different ways to be successful throughout the game. Our bench was huge tonight, not only scoring but playing physical and making key plays on both sides of the ball. Josh (Salguero) had a huge game and Gorden (Boykins) really exhibited a ton of senior leadership. Alton was awesome maintaining a rhythm in a super physical contest. As good as this is, we know we have some incredibly tough opponents coming up that we need to prepare for."
HOW IT HAPPENED
MaCarhy Morris put the Warriors on the board and Skaife gave LC State the lead with a 3-pointer early in the half. Buckets by
John Lustig and Hamilton made it 9-4 as four of the Warriors' five starters scored in the first four minutes.
Foul shots by Hamilton and a jumper by Lustig had the lead at 13-4 by 15:32, and Hamilton threw down a dunk to emphasize the 15-4 lead a minute later. EOU scored for the first time in nearly five minutes at 14:19 before a triple by Skaife grew the Warrior lead to 18-7.
Morris netted a 3-pointer for a 10-point advantage, 22-12, at 10:24 and Hamilton and
Kasen Carpenter combined for five straight points. A basket by
Gorden Boykins had the margin at 29-20 by 7:03. Skaife added a 3 and Lustig dunked for a 34-24 cushion at 3:27. EOU cut the difference to six, but a triple by Skaife had the lead at 39-32 at the break.
Hamilton opened the scoring in the second half and buckets by Morris and Boykins kept the difference at 10, 47-37, after two minutes.
Josh Salguero scored eight straight Warrior points for a 59-46 advantage at 12:21.
Boykins scored and
Jayceon Smith converted two foul shots as the lead grew to 66-52 with 7:46 left to play. Hamilton tipped an offensive board back in, but EOU rallied to cut the margin back to eight points, 69-63, with 3:13 on the clock.
The two teams traded baskets as a layup by Lustig and free throws by Hamilton and Boykins helped LC State maintain its edge over EOU. A Mountie basket had the score at 75-68 with 40 seconds to play.
The lead shrunk to two points with 24 seconds left and free throws by Morris pushed the margin back out to four, 77-73, with 16 seconds to go. A free throw by Lustig ended the contest.
STAT RECAP
Hamilton led the contest with 19 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. He led LC State with five assists and shot 7-for-12 from the field. Boykins was 5-for-9 with 13 points and Skaife hit four 3-pointers for his career-best 12 points. Morris finished the night with 10 points and seven boards and Lustig grabbed eight rebounds.
LC State had 26 points off the bench and totaled 14 second chance points. The Warriors shot 49.1% from the field including a 50% mark in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Warriors host No. 24 Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon next weekend for the final home games of the regular season.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
