Second-half lull hurts LCSC men in setback to Rocky

1-24-08

LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College men’s basketball team could only muster three buckets for six points during a 10-minute stretch of the second half and suffered its first loss in Frontier Conference play with a 68-58 setback to Rocky Mountain College at the LCSC Activity Center on Thursday night. 

Warrior senior guard Justin Fraser’s drive to the basket at the 12:52 mark gave the Warriors a 39-37 lead in the defensive struggle, but LCSC only managed two buckets from Brian Duckworth and one from Napoleon Gordon during the next 10 minutes and fell behind 60-45 with 1:43 left. 

LCSC managed to get the lead down to nine twice, but the Bears were able to hang on to give veteran coach Bill Dreikosen his first win on this road trip. In his previous seven seasons, Dreikosen had a 0-14 record on the road against LCSC and Westminster. 

Now, the Bears win leaves three teams tied for first in the Frontier Conference standings at 5-1. Rocky and Westminster, tied with LCSC for first, meet on Saturday night, while the Warriors will entertain Carroll College. LCSC is 14-6 overall after having its eight-game winning streak snapped, while Rocky is 17-4. 

Neither team could generate much offense in the contest until Chase Sukut hit back-to-back 3-pointers for Rocky Mountain to spark a 10-0 run and give the Bears a 49-39 advantage. Rocky continued to shoot the ball well to build up its lead. 

For the game, RMC hit 22-of-59 shots for 37.3 percent, but shot 50 percent from the field in the second half. The Bears, however, were just 6-of-26 from the 3-point line. LCSC was 26-of-64 from the field for 40.6 percent and 5-of-18 at the 3-point line. 

Two key areas that help Rocky Mountain were the foul line and rebounding. Rocky outrebounded LCSC 51-30 and had 15 offensive rebounds. Even though the Bears took five less shots from the field, those offensive rebounds helped draw fouls and put them on the line. Rocky was 18-of-24 at the foul line, compared to 1-of-5 for LCSC. 

Mike Gordy paced the Warriors with 20 points and five rebounds, while Duckworth added 14 points, eight assists, and five steals. 

Devin Uskoski had a double-double for Rocky with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Sukut and Alvis Dowiels had 16 points apiece.