LEWISTON, Idaho – No. 20 Oregon Tech outlasted (RV) LC State Men's Basketball in a physical battle on Saturday to defeat the Warriors 70-66. LC State trailed by four at the half before an evenly-fought final 20 minutes.
Brandon Suber and
Grayson Hunt led the Warriors with 17 points each off the bench, with Hunt doing so on a 7-for-9 night from the floor. Suber drained 7-of-8 foul shots for a career-high.
"Rough night for the Warriors," coach
Austin Johnson said. "Credit to OIT as they were clearly the more disciplined team as we struggled to defend without fouling. Outside of Grayson and Brandon, we weren't able to put any pressure on their defense which hurt us keep rhythm. Loved our fight but we made too many physical and mental errors to beat a championship level team like OIT. We'll get back to work and see if we can keep improving."
The loss moves the Warriors to 10-4 overall and 4-2 in CCC action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Six straight points from
Peyton Nordland had the Warriors out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first 90 seconds, but the Owls answered with an 8-0 run to jump in front. Tallies by
Trevor Manning, Suber and Hunt helped LC State keep pace with OIT, and a bucket by Hunt sparked a 14-0 run to give the Warriors a 26-17 advantage.
Oregon Tech responded with a 16-2 stretch to regain the lead, 33-28, with 2:56 left in the half. Hunt and
Carter Hansen each scored to tie the contest 34-34 before OIT took a 38-34 lead into the locker room.
Tallies by
Dallon Morgan and
Josh Salguero chipped away at the deficit before a triple by Nordland evened the contest 40-40 at 17:23. OIT surged for eight points as baskets by Suber and
Jamare' Childs kept the game within reach.
Hunt kicked off an eight-point rally, fueled by baskets by Suber and Childs, to knot things up 62-62 and four points by Suber made it 66-66 with less than two minutes to play. OIT scored the final four points to take the contest.
STAT RECAP
Suber and Hunt each scored 17 points to lead LC State. Suber was 7-for-8 from the free throw line for a career-high and Hunt was 7-for-9 from the floor to go with a game-high nine rebounds.
The Warrior defense held OIT to just 2-for-11 (18.2%) from 3-point range.
OIT's Jackson Cooper led the contest with 25 points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
UP NEXT
LC State hits the road next weekend for games at Bushnell (Ore.) and Corban (Ore.).
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
