Warrior men shoot down MSU-Northern 78-63

 2-8-07

Enjoying one of its better shooting nights of the season, the Lewis-Clark State College men’s basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a solid 78-63 triumph over Montana State University-Northern in Frontier Conference action at the LCSC Activity Center on Thursday night. 

The Warriors, ranked No. 22 in the NAIA, improved to 18-6 overall and kept pace in the conference standings with Carroll College, which needed overtime to defeat Montana-Western on Thursday night. Carroll is in first place in the conference at 8-2, while LCSC is 7-2. MSU-Northern is in fourth at 6-4, just a half-game behind 6-3 Westminster. 

LCSC only trailed once in the game at 2-0, but responded with the next 11 points. Although the Skylights cut the margin to two, LCSC built the advantage to 38-28 at halftime. The Warriors opened up a 15-point lead, but Northern fought back to cut the margin to 65-58 with less than 5 minutes remaining. LCSC, however, hit its free throws down the stretch and outscored the Skylights 13-5 the rest of the way. 

The Warriors shot 57.4 percent from the field, hitting 27-of-47 shots, including 6-of-12 3-pointers. LCSC shot 53.6 percent in the first half and then made 12-of-19 shots in the second half for 63.2 percent shooting. 

LCSC did its damage in a variety of ways. Junior post Mike Gordy scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half controlling the inside, while freshman point guard Napoleon Gordon (shown above) ignited the crowd in the second half with his play. He scored 10 points in the second half and also finished with 15 points, along with three assists and three steals. Robert Comer came off the bench and scored 12 points, hitting three 3-pointers. 

Seven of the eight Warriors who scored in the game had at least seven points. Chris Pitts led LCSC with eight rebounds, while Teran Lee added six. Both also had nine points.

LCSC’s bench finished 12-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-5 at the 3-point line. 

MSU-Northern, which falls to 16-9 overall, was led by Delvaughn Tinned’s game-high 17 points, but he was just 7-of-21 from the field. Ronnie Simpson added 13 points, while Brian Erickson had 10.

Both teams resume conference play on Saturday. Northern will travel to Salk Lake to face Westminster, while LCSC will play host to the University of Great Falls at 8 p.m.