Coach George Pfeifer often describes Lewis-Clark State's substitution patterns as waves. The Warriors' Frontier Conference opener Thursday night showed that the first wave isn't always the mightiest. Sometimes a tsunami is just behind it.

In the middle of the first half, a unit made up entirely of second-string Warriors ignited a game-turning blitz. Their push put the L-C men on the path to a 96-60 rout of Montana Tech at Warrior Gym.

It was the 13th-ranked Warriors' ninth straight victory, making them 17-2 overall. The Orediggers slipped to 4-11.

The key figure in L-C's charge was Jason Hansen, a 6-foot-7 senior forward who might be best known for his reluctance to shoot. His 3-pointer with 11 minutes left in the first half gave the Warriors a 19-18 lead -- and they never trailed again.

Danny Ball, also a reserve, planted a triple on the next possession, and Hansen answered with another bomb. By halftime, LCSC hopped to a 15-point advantage.

Hansen went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and finished with 10 points. Martin Brothers, in just his sixth game with the Warriors, registered a game-high 18 points.

"You don't know where it's coming from," Pfeifer said. "That's got to be hard on the other bench; it's hard on us, too. We're sitting there going, 'OK, this guy is killing. Stay with him.' And then the next night, it'll be somebody else. ... We've got to pay attention and make sure the guy who is doing it, we're milking him."

Just before the conference season, Pfeifer mentioned that, in close games, he might go with a tighter rotation. That would mean less court time for the deeper parts of L-C's bench.

"I'm probably one of the guys that he was talking about," said Hansen, a 26-year-old native of Notus. "I'm glad I got to play tonight, and got to play quite a bit.

"In my rotation, there're three (players), and we had a good tag team going on," he added. "Yeah, I'm glad we got to stay that way. Hopefully it continues throughout the season."

L-C kept the Orediggers buttoned down in the second half, increasing the margin steadily.

Even if it was a night for the reserves to shine, the exclamation point was provided by a starter. On a breakaway with 1:45 remaining, point guard Ricky Frazier floated a lob to Jared Tikker. With one hand, the freshman forward crammed home a savage dunk. To that, the sizable crowd roared its biggest cheer of the night.

MONTANA TECH (4-11, 0-1)

Rudolph 0-4 3-6 3, Sutton 6-14 2-2 16, Weber 4-11 3-3 12, Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Scott 3-7 0-1 6, Dunn 1-4 2-2 4, Harris 0-2 0-1 0, C. Ball 0-0 0-0 0, Beckwith 0-2 0-2 0, Kauffman 4-10 0-0 10, Ori 2-3 4-6 9. Totals 20-59 14-23 60.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (17-2, 1-0)

Idoko 3-4 0-0 6, Endsley 1-3 2-2 4, Tikker 2-4 0-0 4, Allen 5-7 0-0 14, Ray 3-9 1-1 8, Frazier 3-8 0-0 6, Young 0-1 0-0 0, Ball 3-5 0-0 8, Pecht 2-2 0-0 5, Hansen 3-3 1-2 10, Brothers 6-8 6-9 18, Pits 2-4 0-0 4, Trombley 3-7 3-3 9. Totals 36-65 13-17 96.

Halftime score -- LCSC 50, MT 35. Three-point goals -- MT 6-19 (Rudolph 0-2, Sutton 2-7, Weber 1-2, Dunn 0-1, Kauffman 2-6, Ori 1-1); LCSC 11-18 (Tikker 0-1, Allen 4-4, Ray 1-3, Frazier 0-3, Young 0-1, Ball 2-2, Pecht 1-1, Hansen 3-3). Rebounds -- MT 35 (Scott, Ori 6); LCSC 39 (Pitts 6). Assists -- MT 9 (Sutton 3); LCSC 11 (Frazier 5). Total fouls -- MT 17; LCSC 20. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.