LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State College men’s basketball coach Tim Walker shook up the starting lineup and the Warriors responded by snapping a four-game losing streak with a 94-87 win over the University of Great Falls on Saturday night at the LCSC Activity Center.
With Curtis Allen and Drew Arnold, LCSC’s two leading scorers on the bench, the Warriors still enjoyed on of their best offensive nights of the season with their second-highest output. The Warriors put four players in double figures and shot nearly 54 percent from the field.
“We had gone with the same lineup for a long time and were getting the same results,” Walker said. “So we decided to mix things up. At times, we played better defensively, be we are still not at the point where we are really sound defensively.”
Junior forward Tanner McIntosh, senior guard Brian Duckworth and Arnold, a senior post, all finished with 18 points for the Warriors, while Daniel Williams added 11. McIntosh was 8-of-10 from the field, while Arnold was 7-of-12. Duckworth went 6-of-11 and also had six assists and a game-high six steals.
The Warriors also did a nice job at the free-throw line, connecting on 23-of-35 attempts, while Great Falls only shot 10 free throws and made nine.
With the win, the Warriors improved to 3-6 in conference play and 9-10 overall, while Great Falls is 1-8 and 7-18 after its fourth straight loss.
LCSC seemed to have things under control with a 15-point lead with four minutes left, but the Argos rallied to cut it to 81-75 with 2:10 left. The Warrior built it back to nine, but on three occasions, UGF narrowed the margin to six. The Warriors managed to answer each time with free throws, a dunk, or a layup.
For the game, LCSC hit 35-of-65 shots for 53.8 percent, while Great Falls was 35-of-654 for 54.7 percent. UGF also was 8-of-15 from the 3-point line for 53.3 percnet.
The Argos had five players in double figures, led by Rayshaun Ames’ game-high 20. B.J. Meridyth added 17, Levi Lopez 14, and Matt Neimeyer and Gregg Keithan finished with 10 apiece. Keithan also had 11 assits, while Ames had 12 boards and helped the Argos to a 38-25 rebounding advantage.
LCSC also took care of the basketball and had only eight turnovers, while UGF had 22.
The Warriors will hit the road for the final time in the regular season next week. On Friday, the Warriors play Montana Tech in Butte, Mont., and then face Montana Western on Saturday in Dillon. Both games begin at 7 p.m., Pacific time.
