LEWISTON, ID – LC State Men’s Basketball improved to 3-2 on the young season on Friday with a 78-67 victory over Dickinson State (N.D.) at the Clearwater River Casino & Lodge Classic. John Lustig led the Warriors in scoring to pair with a strong debut for Dallon Morgan.
Lustig led the Warriors with 16 points and Morgan grabbed a game high nine rebounds to go with 14 points. Four LC State players scored in double figures and the Warriors outrebounded DSU 40-25.
“Really good win for our guys,” coach Austin Johnson said. “Credit to Dickinson and their ability to dictate the tone of the game defensively with the different zones they ran. For the first time seeing a zone, we had plenty of mistakes, but we also got a lot of high percentage looks. (Peyton) Nordland was a steady anchor for us on both sides of the ball and it was really good to see Dallon get some court time as we work to get him back in a rhythm. We were able to get some stops in the second half which allowed us to get some breathing room. We’ll need to be a whole lot better tomorrow against a high-level offensive team in Embry-Riddle.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Baskets by Josh Salguero, Jamare’ Childs and Lustig had the LC State advantage at 11-6 by 15:31, and a three-point play by Brandson Suber made it 14-9 a minute later. The Blue Hawks rallied to pull ahead 20-19 at 11:35 before a triple by Morgan put the Warriors back in front for good at 10:46.
Morgan followed his 3-pointer with two free throws, and a layup by Trevor Manning sparked a short run with tallies by Suber and Morgan for a 31-25 edge at 6:20. Hunt, Suber and Morgan kept LC State in front by a slim margin and a basket by Peyton Nordland had the lead at 40-36 at the break.
Lustig opened the second half with three points and Nordland added three points to make it 47-36 three minutes in. Nordland netted a triple a minute later and Salguero threw down his second dunk of the contest at 14:31 to bring the lead to 52-43. Lustig, Suber, Nordland and Grayson Hunt combined for a 9-2 run to give LC State a 67-57 advantage with 6:01 to play.
Morgan drained a 3 before Hunt and Lustig went back-to-back, and free throws by Dylan Skaife and Lustig closed out the 78-67 contest.
STAT RECAP
Lustig led LC State with 16 points and Nordland added 14. Morgan tallied 14 points with nine rebounds in his Warrior debut and was 6-for-6 at the free throw line. Suber added 13 points with a game high four assists and career high five rebounds.
Salguero grabbed eight boards and scored six points on a 3-for-4 night from the field, Hunt had six rebounds and Manning totaled four.
The Warriors shot 49.1% as a team and grabbed 40 rebounds.
UP NEXT
LC State takes on Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the P1FCU Activity Center to close out the Clearwater River Casino & Lodge Classic.
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