3-20-08
KANSAS
CITY, Mo. - The
Lewis-Clark State
College men's basketball
team suffered through
one of its worst
shooting performances of
the season and fell to
the University of the
Cumberlands 75-62 in the
opening round of the
71st annual NAIA
Division I Men's
Basketball Championships
on Thursday night.
The
disappointing loss puts
an end to LCSC's season
at 22-10. The Warriors
were making their eighth
appearance at the
national tournament but
lost in the first round
for the sixth time. Only
in 2000 and 2004 did
LCSC make it to the
tournament's second
round.
The win
continues a hot streak
for the Patriots from
Williamsburg, Kent.
Cumberlands is now 20-13
on the season and has
won 12 of its last 17
games after being 8-8 at
one point this season.
The No. 18 seed Patriots
advance to play No. 2
seed Lee University,
32-1, at 6 p.m., PST on
Friday. Lee defeated
Langston 77-67 in the
first round on Thursday.
LCSC,
which was
seeded
No. 15 in the 32-team
single-elimination
tournament, shot only
36.8 percent (21-of-57)
from the field in the
game. LCSC was under 35
percent for most of the
game and by the time it
warmed up and made some
buckets, the Patriots
had built up an 18-point
advantage. It was the
second worst shooting
performance from the
field by the Warriors
this season, trailing
only a 29.8 percent
showing in a 59-52 win
over Cascade College.
Although
LCSC shot better in the
second half, so did the
Patriots, who buried
18-of-28 attempts (64.8
percent) in the second
half to eliminate any
LCSC hopes of a
comeback. The Patriots
also broke LCSC's
magical defensive number
of 67 as the Warriors
were 18-0 this season
when holding opponents
to 67 or less points.
They wind up 4-10
against teams who score
68 or more points.
Despite the shooting
troubles, the Warriors
managed to stay close in
the opening half.
The Warriors led early,
but after Rob Comer hit
a 3-pointer with 14:36
left in the first half,
LCSC went scoreless from
the field for nearly
eight minutes as
Cumberlands rallied to
take an 18-10 advantage.
LCSC
could have been closer,
except it also was cold
at the foul line. The
Warriors went 7-of-25
from the field in the
opening half for 28
percent and 9-of-16 at
the foul line for 56.3
percent.
Despite
the shooting woes, and
being outrebounded
27-14, LCSC trailed only
30-25 at halftime. LCSC
had the margin down to
26-25 before the
Patriots hit two buckets
in the final 30 seconds
of the
half.
Cumberlands hit its
first four shots of the
second half to jump out
to a 39-27 lead. LCSC
cut the margin to eight,
but the Patriots
responded with a 10-2
run for a 51-35
advantage with 12:30
left. Again, LCSC
rallied with an 8-0 run
and cut the lead in half
at 53-45, but it was the
Cumberlands turn with a
rally and an 11-2 run
put the Patriots up
64-47.
Down the
stretch, Cumberlands led
by as much as 18 and
LCSC could get no closer
than 10 the rest of the
way.
The
Patriots finished
30-of-57 from the field
for 52.6 percent and
were 7-of-18 at the
3-point line 38.9
percent. LCSC was
5-of-19 from the 3-point
line, 26.3 percent, and
only 15-of-24 at the
foul line. Cumberlands
also held a 44-27
rebounding advantage,
which helped it offset
the 21 turnovers it
committed against the
Warrior defense.
Mike
Gordy, despite being
double teamed most of
the game, finished with
24 points on 10-of-17
shooting to pace LCSC.
He also had a team-best
seven rebounds. Justin
Fraser and Rob Comer
added 11 points apiece
as LCSC had only six
players score in the
game.
Luke
Fitzgerald had a monster
game for Cumberlands
with 21 points and 13
rebounds. He shot
10-of-14 from the field.
Mike Gibson added 16
points and nine rebounds.
For the
second straight year,
LCSC won both the
regular season and
tournament titles in the
Frontier Conference.
This year, LCSC finished
in a four-way tie for
the conference's
regular-season title,
but won the tiebreaker
to earn the top seed in
the conference
tournament, which it
won. It was the first
time a team won
back-to-back regular
season and tournament
titles since LCSC joined
the FC in 1999.
The
Warriors lose five
seniors from the squad,
including two-time
conference MVP Gordy,
Fraser, Karl Stedman,
Caleb Orr, and Comer.
A boxscore of the game
can be found online at
http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2007-2008/game14.html
