L-C puts best foot forward
Copyright of the Lewiston Morning Tribune

BUTTE, Mont. -- Opening the Frontier Conference tournament with what their coach called "probably our best 20 minutes of basketball we've played all year," the Lewis-Clark State men had no trouble bagging a first-round victory.

The third-seeded Warriors lambasted sixth-seeded Montana State-Northern 89-62 on Thursday afternoon at the Maroon Activity Center.

In the first half, LCSC (23-8) shot 63 percent and blazed to a 49-24 halftime edge. Spencer Bishop converted a four-point play midway through the half and Danny Allen buried a buzzer-beating jumper at the end of the period.

The Warriors shot 32-for-56 (57.1 percent) for the game and collected 15 offensive rebounds. Joey Ray shook off recent foot pain to connect on five 3-pointers and score 16 points.

"We finally got Joey Ray's foot figured out," coach George Pfeifer said of the senior guard's nagging injury. "He was pretty good today."

Bishop, who scored 13 points and notched six assists, also played his usual solid defense. "Bishop had his best game of the year, on both sides of the ball," Pfeifer said.

The Warriors also got 14 points from both John Moore and Jared Tikker, who combined to shoot 13-for-17. Martin Brothers added 10 points and seven boards while James Idoko collected five points and 10 rebounds.

Pfeifer said that Skylar Wilson, who has been slowed by injuries, would have played had the game been closer.

In today's semifinal round, the Warriors will take on second-seeded Westminster at 1 p.m. PST. The Griffins, ranked ninth in the NAIA, beat Great Falls on Wednesday.

"What will be critical for us it to bottle up the energy and intensity we've played with the last two games," said Pfeifer, whose team is tied for 25th in the national poll. "That's what we'll need against the Griffins."

MONTANA STATE-NORTHERN (12-18)

Stovall 0-0 0-0 0, Wilson 4-7 0-0 8, Matthews 3-6 4-7 10, Grant 0-1 0-0 0, Bullchild 1-2 0-0 3, C. Brothers 4-11 4-7 14, Jordan 0-3 3-4 3, Gillespie 4-5 4-4 16, Lowe 0-2 2-2 2, Hutchins 3-3 0-0 6, Yatera 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-40 17-24 62.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (23-8)

Moore 6-9 2-2 14, M. Brothers 3-4 4-5 10, Pitts 3-5 0-0 6, Allen 2-7 5-6 9, Bishop 4-5 3-4 13, Jaekel 0-0 0-0 0, Ray 5-8 1-2 16, Fraser 1-3 0-0 2, Idoko 1-7 3-4 5, Tikker 7-8 0-0 14. Totals 32-56 18-23 89.

Halftime score -- LCSC 49, MSUN 24. Three-point goals -- MSUN 7-15 (Bullchild 1-2, C. Brothers 2-5, Jordan 0-2, Gillespie 4-5, Lowe 0-1); LCSC 7-17 (Allen 0-4, Bishop 2-3, Ray 5-8, Fraser 0-1, Tikker 0-1). Rebounds -- MSUN 21 (Wilson 4); LCSC 31 (Idoko 10). Assists -- MSUN 10 (Stovall 3); LCSC 20 (Bishop 6). Total fouls -- MSUN 21; LCSC 23. Technical fouls -- none. Fouled out -- none.