BUTTE,
Mont. -- Down by three points at
halftime, Lewis-Clark State tightened
its defense, sharpened its offense and
charged to an easy victory over Montana
Tech.
And then the
Warriors got good news from elsewhere in
Montana. Carroll lost at Rocky Mountain,
which allowed LCSC (20-6, 9-2) to climb
into first place.
The
20th-ranked Warriors shot 60 percent
from the floor in the second half and
outscored the Orediggers 49-29. LCSC
took charge right away, opening the half
with a 14-2 surge.
Tech shot
69.6 percent in the first half -- an
eye-popping number against the Warriors'
usually stout defense.
"We didn't
get the job done to our specifications
on the defensive end," LCSC coach Tim
Walker said. "Second half, we played
much better defense, and we really
played better offensively."
Forward Mike
Gordy led the Warriors with 25 points
and eight rebounds. Freshman point guard
Napoleon Gordon added 14 points, six
assists and four boards while Chris
Pitts notched 12 points and seven
boards.
If the
Warriors beat Montana-Western tonight,
they'll move a full game ahead of
Carroll in the standings.
"We've spoke
for a month now that their destiny is in
their hands," Walker said. "If we're not
excited about this game, something's
wrong."
LEWIS-CLARK
ST.
(20-6, 9-2)
Scarbrough
1-3 0-0 3, Gordy 11-16 3-4 25, Pitts
5-11 2-3 12, Gordon 6-9 0-0 14, Lee 2-9
4-5 8, Thompson 2-3 2-4 6, Tikker 1-3
2-1 4, Orr 0-0 0-0 0, Comer 3-6 0-0 9,
Daly 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 32-63 13-17 83.
MONTANA
TECH (10-14, 5-6)
J. Williams
5-8 1-2 11, Briggs 1-2 0-0 2, Bradshaw
6-13 0-0 15, Nottingham 3-3 0-0 7,
Conley 1-5 0-0 2, Harman 1-2 0-0 3,
Thomas 4-4 0-1 9, B. Williams 0-0 0-0 0,
Trudowski 1-2 0-0 3, Harris 3-3 0-0 9,
Egge 0-0 0-0 0, M. Williams 2-6 1-2 5.
Totals 27-48 2-5 66.
Halftime --
MT 37, LCSC 34. Total fouls -- LCSC 16,
MT 18. Fouled out -- none. Technical
fouls -- none. Three-point goals -- LCSC
6-16 (Comer 3-6, Gordon 2-4, Scarbrough
1-3, Gordon 0-1, Thompson 0-1), MT 10-16
(Bradshaw 3-6, Harris 3-3, Nottingham
1-1, Harman 1-1, Thomas 1-1, Trudnowski
1-1, Conley 0-1). Rebounds -- LCSC 33 (Gordy
8), MT 23 (J. Williams 5). Assists --
LCSC 22 (Gordon 6), MT 17 (Thomas 5).
