After winning back-to
back Frontier Conference
regular season and
tournament titles, the
Lewis-Clark State
College men’s basketball
program would certainly
like to nail the
3-pointer.
However, it certainly
won’t be easy to win a
third consecutive title
because the Warriors
will need to overcome a
few obstacles.
The Warriors return only
four players from last
year’s senior-laden team
that finished the season
at 22-10 and earned the
program’s sixth
appearance to the NAIA
National Tournament.
Among the players who
are gone is two-time
Conference Player of the
year Mike Gordy, a
6-foot-5 forward. Gordy
earned first-team NAIA
All America honors after
averaging 20.8 points
and 5.8 rebounds per
game while shooting 50.7
percent from the field.
The Warriors do return
their starting guard duo
of JR (Napoleon) Gordon
and senior Brian
Duckworth. As a
sophomore, Gordon was
the conference’s
Defensive Player of the
Year and led the team in
steals and was second to
Duckworth in assists.
Duckworth was the team’s
second-leading scorer at
10.9 points per game and
led the club in 3-point
shooting at 42.5
percent.
Also returning is Kasey
Riley, who was limited
by injuries last season.
Riley averaged nearly
7.0 points per game
before he suffered a
season-ending knee
injury just 13 games
into the season.
The fourth player
returning is Andrew
Packwood, a sophomore
from Lewiston. The
6-foot-8 forward played
a big role in last
year’s title run and
made the game-winning
free throws in an
overtime win at
Westminster to begin
conference play.
The other eight players
on this year’s roster
are all new to the
program.
Curtis Allen, a 6-foot-4
senior from Oral
Roberts; James Craft, a
7-foot junior from
Tennessee State; and
Drew Arnold, a 6-foot-10
junior from Weber State,
make up the list of
transfers coming from
NCAA Division I schools.
