LEWISTON, ID – College of Idaho’s final possession was the difference maker as a 3-pointer with one second left in the contest decided Friday’s matchup in Lewiston. The Yotes edged (RV) LC State 68-66 in a tightly contested battle between Idaho’s only NAIA teams.
“Our guys battled and it was good to see us make multiple efforts throughout the game, but we were way too poor defensively defending the 3 to really cement things,” coach Austin Johnson said. “Credit to C of I, they got whatever they wanted in the second half. We have a short turnaround to play a very well rested first place EOU team. We’ll need to put this one behind us and be ready to roll.”
The loss has the LC State record at 14-5 on the season and 8-3 in Cascade Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Yotes had the momentum to start the game and surged out to an 8-2 lead. Baskets by John Lustig and Brandon Suber had the difference at 14-9 at 13:49, and Grayson Hunt kept the game close with a layup to make it 16-12 by 11:36.
College of Idaho attempted to pull away at the midway point of the half, but a 3-pointer by Dylan Skaife kept the LC State offense engaged. A free throw by Lustig and dunk by Hunt in the final minute had the deficit at 29-23 at the break.
Tallies by Josh Salguero and Peyton Nordland cut the difference to three points to start the second half, and triples by Nordland and Jamare’ Childs kept the game within reach. Lustig sparked a run of 13 straight Warriors points to put LC State in front for the first time. Suber, Dallon Morgan and Trevor Manning fueled the scoring stretch the gave the Warriors a 59-55 edge at 6:47.
The lead changed hands throughout the final minutes and three points from Lustig had LC State in front 66-65 with a minute to play. C of I ended the contest on a 3-pointer by Dougie Peoples with one second on the clock.
STAT RECAP
Lustig led the contest with 15 points to go with a team-high six rebounds. Skaife added 13 points and four assists, and Hunt tallied 10 points with six rebounds.
LC State shot 42.4% as a team while C of I shot 46.4%. The Yotes edged the Warriors on the glass with one more rebound (34-33).
Peoples and Utrillo Morris led the Yotes with 14 points each and Rey Johnston grabbed a game-high eight boards. Morris added seven assists to his night.
