LEWISTON, Idaho - Devon Adams' dunk with 44.4 seconds remaining ended Evergreen State College's comeback hopes and helped preserve a 91-81 win for Lewis-Clark State in the opening round of the Life Flight Network Thanksgiving Tournament at the LCSC Activity Center on Friday.
The Warriors, 3-1 overall, led by 17 points at halftime and increased the margin to 68-39 with 13:36 left in the second half. Over the next 12-plus minutes, however, Evergreen State outscored the Warriors 42-18 and cut the margin to 86-81 with 56.3 seconds left.
After the bucket, the Warriors got the ball inbounds and found Adams all alone underneath the basket for the easy dunk. LCSC then stole the inbounds pass and was able to hit some free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.
"We didn't play with a lot of urgency in the last 15 minutes on either end of the floor," LCSC coach Tim Walker said. "We just lost our edge. We quit playing at a high level."
In the first half, the Warriors showed little signs of a two-week layoff since their previous game. LCSC hit seven 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes and hit 19-of-36 shots from the field for 52.8 percent. That helped the Warriors take a 50-33 halftime advantage.
LCSC continued to roll early in the second half and seemed to have things under control before Evergreen State, now 0-4 on the season, mounted its comeback.
The Warriors finished the game with eight 3-pointers, but went 1-of-6 from the line in the second half. The Warriors also didn't help themselves at the foul line where they went 15-of-31 in the game for 48.4 percent.
LCSC did put four players in double figures and had 11 players score at least three points in the game. Senior guard Jared Giammona led the way with 18 points and hit four 3-pointers, while David Johnson, Jeray Key, and Donte Roberts added 12 points apiece. Key also had eight assists, four rebounds and three steals, while Johnson just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Adams finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
"We have a lot of depth," Walker said. "We have the ability to shoot the ball well but we need to develop more of an inside game."
Mikey Hope led Evergreen State with 22 points, while Josh Troyer and Marice Tolliver finished with 15 each. Tolliver did have a double-double with a game-high 16 rebounds, and he also had five assists.
For the game, LCSC finished 34-of-72 for 47.2 percent, while Evergreen State was 29-of-69 for 42 percent.
LCSC finished with a 50-41 rebounding edge and both teams had 15 turnovers.
"I'm happy that we won, but disappointed with our letdown in the second half," Walker said.
Both teams wrap up tournament play on Saturday in the pre-determined format. Evergreen State will play Carroll College at 4 p.m., followed by Walla Walla University and LCSC at 6 p.m.
