WALLA WALLA, Wash. -Using a strong defensive effort, the Lewis-Clark State College men's basketball team rolled past Walla Walla University 79-51 in its final nonconference game of the season on Sunday night.
LCSC, 10-3 overall, begins Frontier Conference play at home on Thursday night against the University of Montana Western at 8 p.m. at the LCSC Activity Center.
The Warriors were in charge from the outset on Sunday night to defeat the Wolves for the second time this season. LCSC also defeated Walla Walla 83-67 in a tournament in Lewiston in late November.
The Warriors held Walla Walla to just 22 points in the opening half.
"I thought we played good defensive tonight," LCSC coach Tim Walker said. "I thought we did a lot of good things through the middle 25 minutes of the game. We created turnovers and got points off the turnovers. All in all it was a good night for us."
Junior guard Jeray Key led the Warriors with 18 points, while Dennis Johnson added 10. Several others Warriors scored between 7 and 9 points.
"Our defense helped us create some nice runs," Walker said. "It was a good game for us."
The Warriors face a tough league opener on Thursday as the Bulldogs are ranked No. 22 in the NAIA. Montana Western is 12-3 overall and has won six straight.
"The guys were talking about starting the conference right after the game and I know they are excited to get to it," Walker said. "We have a really good team coming in so it's going to be a tough opener."
A box was not available on Sunday night's game by press time.
