LEWISTON, ID – Top-seeded No. 23 LC State used a balanced attack to cruise past eighth-seeded Northwest (Wash.) on Wednesday in the quarterfinal round of the 2026 Cascade Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank. The Warriors grabbed 42 rebounds and knocked down 12 3-pointers in the 83-52 victory.
Dylan Skaife and Peyton Nordland led the offensive charge with 16 points each, and Dallon Morgan was key on the boards with a career-high 12 rebounds and three steals.
“Our guys set the tone defensively early on,” coach Austin Johnson said. “We’ve struggled to defend NU’s ball screens the first two times we played them and tonight we executed way better. Peyton Nordland really spearheaded the attack defensively for us. We moved the ball well and got into the paint consistently on offense which created some things. I think Dallon had his best game of the year as well. Now we move on to an elite C of I team. Excited to keep competing with this group.”
LC State advances to the CCC semifinal and will host fifth-seeded College of Idaho on Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at lcwarriors.com/tickets.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors took control early behind a quick six points from Nordland and two by John Lustig. Nordland pushed the margin to 10-2 by 15:55, and Lustig sparked a run of 10 points that included a pair of 3-pointers by Skaife to make it 22-9 at 10:19.
Triples by Skaife and Morgan fueled another scoring stretch that gave LC State a 37-13 advantage with 3:18 to play in the half. Free throws by Nordland and a layup by Brandon Suber had the Warriors up 41-20 at the break.
A steal by Morgan led to a basket by Skaife to start the second half, and 3-pointers by Jamare’ Childs and Lustig grew the lead to 55-28 by 13:54. Free throws by Suber opened an eight-point rally that was capped by a 3 from Skaife for a 63-30 advantage at 10:48.
Morgan, Nordland and Childs continued the offensive attack with a barrage of 3-pointers in the final minutes.
STAT RECAP
Skaife and Nordland led the contest with 16 points each. Skaife did so with four 3-pointers while Nordland went 6-for-9 from the field. Morgan added 15 points with four triples and a game-high 12 boards.
Childs tallied 12 points and Lustig added 11 with five rebounds and six assists. Suber had five assists with his eight points.
The Warriors shot 51.7% from the field and 44.4% from 3-point range with 12 triples. LC State won the rebound battle 42-24. Every Warrior in the game grabbed a rebound.
Andrew Iyamah led Northwest with 11 points and five rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Warriors host in-state rival C of I on Saturday in the semifinal round of the CCC tournament. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in the P1FCU Activity Center.
