At least the Lewis-Clark State College men’s basketball team has some sympathy for Portland Bible College because it can relate to what the Wildcats went through on Friday night.
One night after suffering a 42-point exhibition loss to NCAA Division I power Gonzaga, the Warrior men’s team turned the tide on the Wildcats and rolled to a 96-47 win in the opening round of the Life Flight Holiday Tournament at the LCSC Activity Center.
The Warriors, 8-2 overall, had little trouble with the Wildcats for the second time this season. The Warriors opened the regular season with a 102-54 win on Nov. 9 in Portland and dominated Friday’s game in pretty much the same manner. The only difference was the Wildcats only dressed six players for Friday’s game and became more gassed than the Warriors, who were playing for the second of three consecutive nights.
“Yes and no,” LCSC coach Tim Walker said after being asked if he was happy with Friday’s result. “I’m not sure we are very satisfied with everything. I thought we shot the ball very well but at times we maybe had a little hangover from the night before.”
The Warriors did trail 10-9 early, but a 3-pointer by Jared Giammona put the Warriors over the top for good at the 14:39 mark of the opening half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Giammona started a 16-0 run and put LCSC’s lead at 25-10. Although Portland Bible cut the margin to nine at 25-16, the Warriors used a 14-2 run to put the game away.
LCSC led 47-22 at halftime and by as much as 52 points in the second half.
“I thought we had guys come off the bench and gave us a great boost,” Walker said. “Derek Gianukakis played well and Devon (Adams) had a great line. Our bench was productive tonight.”
The Warriors needed the bench to be productive because No. 9-ranked Azusa Pacific, which advanced to the NAIA National Championship game a year ago, waits on Saturday when the tournament concludes. LCSC was able to rest most of its starters for the final 15 minutes of the second half on Friday.
“I’m excited for that game to see where we are and where we stand,” Walker said. “Azusa Pacific is a great team and very hard to get prepped for.”
The Warriors sent their fans home happy with free hamburgers after making 12 3-pointers in the game. LCSC was 12-of-25 from the 3-point line for 48 percent, which helped it finish 39-of-66 overall for 59.09 percent. LCSC also had a 43-27 rebounding edge and forced 18 turnovers in the contest.
LCSC’s balanced attack featured five players in double figures. Shane Miller scored a season-high 14 points off the bench and was joined by Giammona as the leading scorers for the Warriors. Alex King and Devon Adams added 12 points apiece, while Jeray Key had 10.
Adams finished 6-of-6 from the field with five rebounds and seven assists. Darin Stewart and Ray Stout had a team-high six rebounds for LCSC.
Tim Mahan had a game-high 23 points for the Wildcats and finished 9-of-23 from the field, including 5-of-11 at the 3-point line. The Wildcats, however, were 18-of-57 from the field for 31.6 percent.
The contest was an exhibition game for Portland Bible.
In Friday’s other contest, Azusa Pacific held off Montana State University-Northern 84-72.
Saturday’s pairings have MSU-Northern and Portland Bible at 5:30 p.m., and Azusa Pacific and LCSC at 7:30 p.m.
