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.
Allen
brings valuable NCAA
experience to the
Warriors. He originally
signed with Kansas State
out of high school, and
then transferred to Oral
Roberts for his junior
season during which he
played in 17 games.
Craft played in 25
games for Tennessee
State last season and
started four. Arnold
spent his freshman and
sophomore seasons at
Montana State
University-Billings. He
then transferred to
Weber State last year.
The success of the LCSC
men’s basketball program
down through the years
and how this success is
helping recruit some of
the best high school
athletes in the region
is made evident by the
Warriors strong freshman
class this year.
Incoming freshmen
include Terrell Wallace
from Westview High
School, who was ranked
by ESPN as the 140th
best high school point
guard in the nation, and
Washington’s 2A Player
of the Year last year in Daniel Simon from
Ephrata High School.
Alex Mallari, a 6-foot-3
junior from Chabot
College, and Daniel
Williams, a 6-foot-4
junior from Bakersfield
College, make up the
Warriors recruited from
junior colleges.
Rounding out the
Warriors 2008-2009
roster is Tanner
McIntosh, a 6-foot-8
junior, from Eastern
Oregon University. At
Eastern Oregon, McIntosh
earned honorable mention
all conference honors as
a sophomore.
The key for fourth-year
coach Tim Walker will be
getting the team to
blend together and play
his tough-nose style of
defense. The Warriors
have been consistently
ranked as one of the
NAIA’s top defensive
clubs in Walker’s
tenure.
The schedule features
three tournaments on the
road, an exhibition game
with NCAA power
Washington State
University on Nov. 10 in
Pullman, and a regular
season matchup against
NCAA Seattle University
on Dec. 4 in Seattle.
LCSC will play its first
home game during the
LCSC Thanksgiving
Classic on Nov. 28-29,
and its first conference
home game on Jan. 15
versus the University of
Montana Western.
