BILLINGS, MT – John Lustig cemented his place as arguably the best to wear an LC State uniform on Friday when he became the program’s all-time leading scorer. His 21 points in LC State’s NAIA First Round loss to (RV) The Master’s (Calif.) capped his storied career with 1463 points. He broke the record set by Greg Jose in 1991.
LC State ended its season with a 24-8 overall record in its 20th trip to the national tournament.
“Tough way to end a great season,” coach Austin Johnson said. “We certainly did not defend at the level needed to win and really struggled to keep them out of the paint and off the free throw line. We had some good individual performances but needed more of a team production to beat a great Master’s squad.”
The Warriors fought a back-and-forth battle with the Mustangs in Billings and came up just short in the 88-80 loss. The season finale marked the end of careers of Lustig, Grayson Hunt and Peyton Nordland.
“I will miss going to battle with our seniors,” Johnson added. “Nordland was a catalyst for us all year and the jump he made from junior to senior season is as impressive as any we’ve had in this program. Grayson was awesome this year and anchored us inside; thankful he was able to stay healthy and show what a competitor he is. Lustig is arguably the best player to ever play at LC. Obviously, he’s the all-time scoring leader, but he has elevated this program and reinvented himself every year. He’s allowed us to coach and challenge him at a level that’s very rare. Happy I got a front row seat to his career. These three seniors leave the program better than they found it and I am so lucky I got to be a small part of their journey.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors took an early 4-0 lead on a free throw by Nordland and 3-pointer by Dallon Morgan, but TMU answered with seven straight. Dyland Skaife hit a pair of triples for a 10-9 edge, and another 3 had LC within one, 16-15. A 3-pointer from Nordland at 10:07 kept the back-and-forth going before he knocked down one more to make it 27-26 LC State at 7:24.
Skaife, Trevor Manning and Brandon Suber combined for the final six points for LC State in the half for a 40-36 advantage at the break.
The Master’s gained momentum midway through the second half and led 67-58 with 9:08 to play. Lustig and Nordland added five straight LC State points to cut the difference to four, 67-63, but another rally had the Mustangs ahead 74-64 at 6:38. The Master’s continued to build its lead, and Lustig scored the final basket of the season for the Warriors in the final minute.
TMU ended the contest with four free throws to end the LC State season.
STAT RECAP
Lustig and Skaife led LC State with 21 points each. Lustig was 9-for-11 from the field and led the Warriors with seven rebounds and four assists, while Skaife hit four 3-pointers. Nordland added 14 points and Hunt grabbed five rebounds.
The Warriors shot 50% from the field and knocked down 10 3-pointers. Each team grabbed 26 rebounds with the main difference in the game being the free throw line. TMU went 24-for-29 at the line and LC State was 6-for-12.
Lustig leaves LC State as the all-time leading scorer with 1463 points. His 561 field goals made ranks third and his 614 rebounds are fifth.
