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Last week, the Lewis-Clark State men plotted their way through the remainder of the Frontier Conference season. Their conclusion: If they still had an eye on the league's penthouse, the Warriors realized they needed to win out.
At the time, it must have sounded more difficult that this. Showing the panache that Warrior Gym crowds have grown accustomed to, LCSC blitzed beleaguered Carroll College 87-59 on Saturday evening.
The 16th-ranked Warriors, 8-3 in the FC, moved into a tie for second place with Rocky Mountain. They trail only Westminster, 9-1, which will come to Lewiston next Saturday.
LCSC is now unbeaten in 17 home games this season. The Warriors' 24-5 overall mark gives them a school record for wins in a season.
The Saints -- and this was light-years ago, it seems -- were once labeled the conference's second-best team behind the Warriors. But L-C showed no mercy on one of its more reliable rivals.
"We played the game that we needed to," said guard Joey Ray, who gathered a game-high 17 points. "Regardless of how they played, I think we just needed to come out and play our game."
Ray and Danny Allen connected on three 3-pointers each in the first half, as the Warriors sailed to a 15-point halftime lead. They made the margin 31 points midway through the second half.
All 11 Warriors scored, and five of them cracked double figures. L-C coach George Pfeifer delighted in his club's handful of deliberate possessions.
"You look up at the shot clock and all of a sudden there's seven, eight seconds to go," he said. "We haven't done that for a while.
"Now all of a sudden we're making that basket at the end. And that's demoralizing to guard and chase and guard and chase as much as they did."
After the game -- and, hey, maybe even during the game -- L-C turned its attention to Westminster. The Griffins beat the Warriors in January, using a prickly zone defense to limit L-C to 55 points.
"Well, we owe them one," Ray said. "Tonight's win was important, but now Saturday's is just that much more important."
"That ought to be a rock 'n' roll affair," Pfeifer said. "That had better be a rock 'n' roll affair, because I know I'm going to be jiggy and excited for it."
CARROLL (17-8, 4-6)
Johnson 2-8 0-1 4, Paulson 1-4 4-4 6, Hays 2-3 2-2 6, Beery 1-3 0-0 2, Bong 6-12 0-0 12, Stuart 1-2 0-0 3, Graham 1-2 0-0 2, Roche 0-4 0-0 0, Leslie 0-3 2-2 2, Brown 4-7 0-0 8, Gustafson 7-8 0-1 14, Shaub 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-56 8-10 59.
LEWIS-CLARK STATE (24-5, 8-3)
Brothers 5-10 0-0 10, Endsley 4-9 1-3 10, Trombley 1-3 2-2 4, Allen 6-8 0-0 16, Ray 6-9 0-0 17, Frazier 3-7 4-4 10, Ball 1-2 1-1 3, Hansen 0-0 4-4 4, Idoko 3-3 1-1 7, Pitts 1-2 0-2 2, Tikker 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 32-55 13-17 87.
Halftime score -- LCSC 45, Carroll 30. Three-point goals -- Carroll 1-14 (Johnson 0-5, Paulson 0-1, Beery 0-1, Bond 0-1, Stuart 1-2, Roche 0-2, Leslie 0-2); LCSC 10-18 (Endsley 1-1, Allen 4-6, Ray 5-8, Frazier 0-2, Ball 0-1). Rebounds -- Carroll 25 (Johnson, Hays 5); LCSC 32 (Brothers 6). Assists -- Carroll 9 (Hays 3); LCSC 17 (Allen 5). Total fouls -- Carroll 20; LCSC 18. Fouled out -- Idoko. Technical fouls -- Idoko.
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