BOISE, Idaho – A six-and-a-half minute scoring drought early in the game put Lewis-Clark State in too big of a hole to climb out of as the Warriors fell to the University of Idaho 71-52 in an exhibition men’s basketball contest at Qwest Arena on Tuesday night.
With the scored tied at 4 early, the Vandals went on a 18-0 run to take control of the contest. LCSC didn’t get its third bucket until the11:16 mark of the opening half to cut the margin to 22-6.
LCSC managed to cut the lead to 11 twice in the first half before the Vandals took a 38-20 lead at intermission. The Warriors cut the lead to 13 in the second half, including once with about six minutes left, but couldn’t get closer as the Vandals pulled away.
The contest was originally scheduled to be played in Moscow but was moved to Boise because of the UI football team playing in the Humanitarian Bowl game at Boise State University’s Bronco Stadium on Wednesday.
The contest marked the end of a long 24 hours for the Warriors. LCSC lost a heartbreaker to Wisconsin-Stout, an NCAA Division III team, 82-80 in Lewiston on Monday night. The Warriors then took boarded a bus and went about 100 miles after the game and arrived in Riggins around 1 a.m. The Vandals stayed the night there and then rode another near four hours to Boise Tuesday morning for the contest against the NCAA Division I Vandals.
Because LCSC was playing an NCAA D-I team, the contest is an exhibition game for the Warriors and none of the statistics from the contest will count. Idaho, on the other, hand, will count the game as a win because the contest against the NAIA Warriors was played on a neutral court. Idaho is now 7-4 overall.
The Warriors had three players in double figures as Daniel Williams, Tanner McIntosh, and Markus Monroe all finished with 10 points apiece. Williams went 8-of-8 at the foul line to help the Warriors hit 16-of-20 free throws.
LCSC made 17-of-49 shots from the field for 34.7 percent, and was 2-of-10 from the 3-point line. Idaho was 27-of-54 from the field for an even 50 percent and 8-of-23 from the 3-point line. Idaho also had a 42-32 rebounding edge.
LCSC did force the Vandals into 17 turnovers, while the Warriors had only 11.
The Warriors return to regular-season action on Saturday night when they play host to Walla Walla University at 7 p.m. at the LCSC Activity Center. It is the final nonconference game of the season for the Warriors.
