EUGENE, OR – Jamare’ Childs led the LC State offensive attack on Friday to help the Warriors defeat Bushnell (Ore.) 72-60 in Eugene. Childs tallied a career-high 18 points with four 3-pointers in the contest, and Grayson Hunt notched a double-double with 12 rebounds and 10 points.
The LC State defense held the Beacons to a 35.7% mark from the floor and just 3-for-15 from 3-point range. The Warriors took advantage at the free throw line with 16-of-18 foul shots converted.
“An ugly, grinder of a game but that’s how it has to be if we’re going to have success during this stretch,” coach Austin Johnson said. “We shot ourselves in the foot and struggled to maintain multiple leads, but I was very proud of how our guys handled the last 4-5 minutes. Jamare’ was steady all game making shots, Grayson helped match Bushnell’s physicality and (Dylan) Skaife had a really solid game both offensively and defensively. Guys like Trevor (Manning) and Peyton Nordland were also great closing things out. Good to get a win but we know we have another super challenging game tomorrow against a talented and physical Corban team.”
The victory has the LC State record at 11-4 overall and 5-2 in Cascade Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Childs gave the Warriors an early 3-0 edge with a triple in the first minute, but the Beacons answered with a run of nine to surge ahead within three minutes. Dallon Morgan scored before six straight point by Grayson Hunt put LC State back in front 11-9 at 14:43. A jumper by Peyton Nordland put the Warriors back in front for good at 13:15 and sparked a seven-point rally with contributions from Dylan Skaife and Hunt. LC State led 18-11 midway through the half.
Childs, Brandon Suber and Skaife found the basket to match Bushnell buckets. Another 3-pointer by Childs had the lead at 29-20 with 3:56 left in the frame and Nordland converted three free throws to make it 32-22 at 2:52. The Beacons rallied late to cut the margin to 32-28 in the final minute, but two more foul shots by Nordland sent the Warriors to the locker room with a 34-28 edge.
A basket by Nordland got the offense going for LC State in the second half before free throws by Morgan started a nine-point run that saw tallies by Josh Salguero and Childs for a 45-33 cushion by 16:32. Carter Hansen and Skaife went back-to-back and Suber added on, but Bushnell chipped away at the Warrior lead down the stretch.
The Beacons were within four, 56-52, at 6:10, but a triple by Nordland and dunk by Hunt had the momentum back with LC State with five minutes to go. Childs scored five points in the span of a minute and foul shots by Nordland pushed the lead back to 70-60 in the final minute and Childs closed out the contest with free throws.
STAT RECAP
Childs led all scorers with his career-high 18 points. He was 4-for-6 from 3-point range. Nordland added 14 points with a 7-for-7 performance at the free throw line, and Hunt collected 12 rebounds with 10 points.
Suber dished out a game-high four assists, Skaife blocked two shots and Morgan grabbed seven rebounds.
LC State shot 43.1% from the floor and 88.9% from the free throw line.
