3-8-08
BUTTE, Mont. –
Sophomore guard Napoleon
Gordon made two free
throws with nine seconds
left to help the
Lewis-Clark State
College men’s basketball
team fend off Montana
State
University-Northern
65-63 in the
championship game of the
Frontier Conference
Tournament at Butte
Central High School on
Saturday night.
The title was the
Warriors’ fourth FC
tournament championship
in the last five seasons
and also was their fifth
overall since joining
the conference in 1999.
LCSC also became the
first team since it
joined the league to win
both back-to-back
regular season and
tournament titles.
The victory also gives
the No. 21-ranked
Warriors an automatic
berth in the NAIA
national tournament,
which will be held March
19-25 in Kansas City,
Mo. The Warriors, 22-9,
most likely will open
the 32-team tournament
on March 20. Carroll is
likely the only other
member of the conference
who will make it to
nationals as the
at-large berths are
determined on the final
poll of the season,
which came out
Wednesday. Carroll was
No. 23 in that poll.
As with its semifinal
win over Rocky Mountain
on Friday, the Warriors’
title-game victory
didn’t come easy. The
Warriors blew a
double-digit lead in the
second half and actually
trailed by four points
with eight minutes
remaining.
Trailing 61-59 with less
than two minutes left,
LCSC tied the game on a
bucket by Mike Gordy.
MSU-Northern, which was
the hottest team in the
league with six straight
wins entering Saturday,
regained the lead when
Delvaughn Tinned hit a
bucket with 1:13 left,
but LCSC senior guard
Rob Comer countered with
a jumper to again tie
things with 51 seconds
left.
MSU-Northern, which
finishes the season
22-9, worked the shot
clock down, but Drew
Patterson had the ball
stolen by LCSC’s Brian
Duckworth with 14
seconds left. After an
LCSC timeout, the
Warriors put the ball in
the hands of Gordon, who
finished with a
game-high 21 points. MSU-Northern
was forced to foul and
Travis Noble fouled
Gordon with nine seconds
left to set up his two
free throws.
With fouls to give, LCSC
fouled with seven
seconds and three
seconds left, forcing
MSU-Northern to take the
ball out of bounds each
time. After the second
foul, MSU-Northern got
the ball to Tinned, but
his 3-point attempt fell
short at time expired.
The Warriors also won
back-to-back conference
tournament titles in
2003-04 and 04-05, and
won its first title in
1999-2000. This will be
the Warriors’ eighth
trip to the national
tournament, besides this
being the fourth time in
the last five years,
LCSC also qualified in
1992, ’96, 2000, and
’02.
Gordy had 17 points,
while Duckworth added 10
for the Warriors.
For the game, LCSC hit
25-of-52 shots from the
field for 48.1 percent,
and was 8-of-21 from the
3-point line. MSU-Northern
finished 20-of-55 from
the field for 36.4
percent and was 7-of-26
from the 3-point line
for 26.9 percent. MSU-Northern
did have a small 32-29
rebounding edge. Gordy
paced LCSC with seven
boards.
Drew Pettersen had 20
points and 12 rebounds
to lead MSU-Northern,
while Shaun Tatarka had
12 points.
It was Tatarka and
Travis Noble who led the
MSU-Northern comeback in
the second half. LCSC
led 49-38, but Tatarka
hit a 3-pointer, a free
throw and another
3-pointer to make it
49-46. After Noble hit a
shot, Tatarka buried
another 3-pointer to
complete a 13-0 Northern
run for a 51-49 edge.
Northern led by as much
as four, 55-51, in the
second half before the
Warriors rallied for the
win.
The Warriors went
through much adversity
this season, losing
three starters during
the year for various
reasons. The team also
started out 5-0 and then
lost five of its next
six to stand 6-5. The
Warriors, however,
responded by winning 16
of their final 20 games
to finish in a four-way
tie for first place in
the conference. Based on
the conference
tiebreaker, LCSC was
awarded the top seed for
the conference
tournament.
