L-C defensively wilts MSU-Northern

Lewis-Clark State coach George Pfeifer got the intensity he had emphasized this week in practice. Montana State-Northern had three scoreless streaks that each lasted longer than five minutes.

And they all came in the first half.

In other words, this one was decided by intermission.

Danny Allen led the Warriors with 15 points and Martin Brothers added 14 points and 13 rebounds as LCSC rolled over the Skylights 75-51 in a Frontier Conference men's basketball game at the LCSC Activity Center.

The Warriors (21-7, 9-3) remain perfect in six games in their new home.

After losing two tough road contests at Carroll and Westminster, Pfeifer stressed that he wanted to see his players get off to a quick start.

"What we did in the first 10 minutes of those games determined the outcome," he said. "It was really important to start this game strong."

No problem there. Thanks in large part to MSUN's first scoreless streak, which lasted more than seven minutes, the Warriors found themselves up 12-4 before the Skylights realized what hit them.

What had was a tough man defense and lots of Warrior offensive rebounds. Led by Joey Ray's smothering defense, which included drawing two Skylight charges, the Warriors were able to create fast-break opportunities from MSUN turnovers.

Even when LCSC missed their shots -- which was rare -- more often than not there was someone waiting to grab the offensive board.

"We had 18 offensive rebounds," beamed Pfeifer. "Everytime you looked up there were people flying around getting things done."

Brothers led the Warriors with 10 points in the first half.

MSUN, on the other hand, had more turnovers (17) than points (11) at the break.

Things never improved for MSUN after halftime. It was not until 18:15 of the second half when the Skylights points on successive trips down the court.

MSUN's Jordan Matthews , who scored a game-high 20 points, did most of his damage in the second half, trying in vain to keep his team in the game.

He hit two consecutive 3-pointers to bring MSUN to within 17 points, but Ray and Justin Fraser responded with 3-pointers for the Warriors, keeping LCSC's lead above the 20-point barrier.

As if to show the Warriors' sluggish road trip was no cause for alarm, Brothers maintained that while Pfeifer rode them in practice this week, the players knew what needed to be done.

"We got on each other to get back to playing the way we did last year," he said. "Our offensive has always been there but we know that defense is the key to winning."

With only three regular-season games left before the Frontier Conference tournament, Pfeifer knows that keeping that intensity going will be a key for postseason success

"What we did in practice this week was turn the clock back to October and November when we really had it going," he said. "We can get better and we can find that level again."

MSU-NORTHERN (12-15, 3-10)

Stovall 0-2 0-0 0, Wilson 2-6 0-0 4, Matthews 6-9 5-6 20, Grant 2-2 0-0 4, Bullchild 0-2 0-0 0, Carter 1-4 3-3 5, Brothers 3-7 0-0 7, Jordan 1-3 0-0 2, Gillespie 1-4 1-3 3, Lowe 0-0 0-0 0, Hutchins 2-7 0-0 4, Yatera 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 18-46 11-13 51.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (21-7, 9-3)

Wilson 3-4 2-2 9, Brothers 5-7 4-5 14, Pitts 3-6 1-3 7, Allen 6-11 0-0 15, Ray 4-13 0-0 12, Bishop 1-1 0-0 2, Jaekel 0-0 0-2 0, Moore 4-10 2-2 10, Fraser 1-4 0-0 3, Orr 0-0 0-0 0, Idoko 0-4 0-0 0, Tikker 1-1 1-2 3, Stroyan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 10-17 75.

Halftime score -- LCSC 34, MSUN 11. Three-point goals -- MSUN 4-10 (Matthews 3-4, Bullchild 0-1, Carter 0-1, Brothers 1-3, Gillespie 0-1), LCSC 9-20 (Wilson 1-2, Allen 3-5, Ray 4-11, Fraser 1-2). Rebounds -- MSUN 25 (three tied with 4), LCSC 39 (Brothers 13). Assists -- MSUN 7 (Bullchild and Hutchins 2), LCSC 9 (Allen 4). Total fouls -- MSUN 17, LCSC 16. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.

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Jackson may be contacted at sports@lmtribune.com