Top seed LCSC men down Montana Tech 76-58

 3-5-08

BUTTE, Mont. - Mike Gordy scored six of his game-high 24 points to start the second half to help the Lewis-Clark State College men's basketball team roll over Montana Tech 76-58 in the opening round of the Frontier Conference Tournament on Wednesday night.

 

The Warriors, the top seed in the tournament, improved to 20-9 overall, while Montana Tech ends its season at 6-23.

 

Despite being the No. 1 vs. No. 8 seed game, there were signs that this would be a tough game for LCSC. For starters, the Warriors defeat Montana Tech by just 10 and four points during the season. Second, the game was played in Montana Tech's hometown.

 

The Orediggers, however, only saw the lead once on Wednesday at 2-0, and found themselves trailing 42-23 at halftime. Gordy then scored the first six points of the second half to put the Warriors up by 25, and Tech could get no closer than 15 the rest of the way.

 

LCSC moves into Friday's semifinal round where it will take on the winner of Thursday's No. 4 Westminster vs. No. 5 Montana State-Northern game. A week ago, Westminster was one win away from clinching the Frontier Conference regular season title, but lost to Carroll, which caused it to fall to the No. 4 seed and out of the Top 25 poll. Westminster also took a huge tumble in the NAIA rankings and now has to win the conference tournament to get to nationals.

 

LCSC is ranked No. 21 in the country and appears to have a great shot at qualifying for nationals. The tournament winner receives one of 17 automatic berths, while there are also 15 at-large berths, which are awarded based on the poll. As long as six teams ahead of LCSC earn automatic berths through conference tournaments, the Warriors will clinch a national tournament berth to Kansas City, Mo.

 

The Warriors, who have won 14 of their last 18 games after starting the season 6-5, will play their semifinal at 7 p.m., PDT on Friday. The FC title game is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday.

 

Gordy, who is ninth in the NAIA in scoring at 20.6 points per game, scored 10 in the first half . The 6-foot-5 senior forward, who was co-MVP of the conference last season, then kick started the Warriors in the second half and helped the club to a 50-25 advantage.

 

All 10 Warriors scored at least two points in the game. Jonathan Daly and Andrew Packwood added 10 points apiece and LCSC's three posts combined for 44 points in the game.

 

On the night, the Warriors hit 31-of-56 shots for 55.4 percent, compared to 23-of-59 for 39 percent for Montana Tech. The Warriors also held their first opponent in 10 games to less than 60 points.

 

In Wednesday's other game, No. 2 seed Montana State-Northern defeated No. 7 Great Falls 65-54.