BUTTE, Mont. – LC State Men's Basketball fell short of its comeback against Montana Western to open the Best Western Tipoff Classic, hosted by (RV) Montana Tech, on Friday. The Bulldogs edged the Warriors 69-60.
Elijah Kersey led the Warriors with a career-high 12 points off the bench and
Dallon Morgan grabbed 10 rebounds.
"Credit to Montana Western," coach
Austin Johnson said. "They were by far the more aggressive team tonight. Elijah gave us a good boost off the bench, but we need to start games and second halves better. Fortunately, we get to go right back to battle tomorrow night against a really good Montana Tech team. Excited to see how we respond."
The loss moves the LC State record to 2-2 on the young season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tallies by
Josh Salguero and
Brandon Suber had the score knotted 3-3 early, and more baskets by the pair had LC within one, 8-7, four minutes in. Back-to-back baskets by
Jamare' Childs and Suber put the Warriors in front 14-13 at 12:08, but UMW pulled ahead 27-20 by 4:54.
Dylan Skaife and Suber converted free throws down the stretch before Morgan and Kersey combined for a run of five points to cut the deficit to 33-29 at 1:55. Salguero scored in the final seconds to send the Warriors to the locker room in a 35-31 deficit.
Suber scored the first basket of the second half, but the Bulldogs went on a run to grow their lead to 48-35 by 12:46. The margin grew to 61-40 at 8:13, but baskets by
Trevor Manning and Kersey helped LC State begin to chip away at the UMW lead.
Carson Way found the basket at 2:45 to start an 11-point rally.
Mateen Usui scored before free throws by Kersey and Usui ended the contest.
STAT RECAP
Kersey led the Warriors with his career-high 12 points on 3-for-5 shooting and Suber added 11. Salguero scored 10 points and Morgan grabbed 10 boards.
UP NEXT
LC State continues the Best Western Tipoff Classic on Saturday against host Montana Tech at 6 p.m. PT.
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