LEWISTON, Idaho – Darin Stewart had 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point territory in the first half to help the Lewis-Clark State College men’s basketball team ease by Multnomah University 92-48 at the Activity Center on Thursday night. LCSC tied a season-high with 10 three-pointers in the game.
The win brings the NAIA Division I Warriors to 6-1 on the year. The game was counted as an exhibition for Multnomah; a team out of Portland, Ore., and a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association.
Stewart, a 6-foot-3 senior from Mission Viejo, Calif., got things rolling offensively for the Warriors in the first half. After a little bit of rough start for LC in the first few minutes, Stewart nailed a three on a fast break to tie it up at 5-5, and then later in the half hit back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Warriors’ lead to 33-18 with 7:36 left in the half.
At halftime, LCSC led 53-26 after hitting 56.4 percent of its shots from the field including 7-of-17 attempts from the outside.
Lewis-Clark State’s shooting touch from the outside waned some in the second half, but its rebounding efforts certainly did not. The Warriors outrebounded the Lions 29-10 in the final half which led to a season-high rebounding total and a 55-23 advantage in boards on the night.
With 18 offensive boards, the Warriors led 48-18 in points in the paint and 18-5 in second chance points.
The widest statistical difference between the two teams though was LCSC’s 51-7 advantage in points scored from the bench. The big lead at halftime helped allow first-year head coach Brandon Rinta give his full roster a good deal of playing time.
All 13 members of LCSC’s active roster saw at least around seven minutes on the floor, and 12 different Warriors had at least one rebound.
Stewart, who played just four minutes in the second half, ended up leading the team in scoring with his 19 points. PJ Bolte added a double-double of 15 points and 11 boards, Chris Hepperly came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers to reach 11 points, and Darious Walker and Nick Fromm added 10 points apiece.
Danny Marshall also reached double-digits in rebounds as he collected 11 boards to go with eight points. Kale Schmidt and Donte Archie led the team in assists with six and five, respectively.
LCSC shot 53.4 percent from the field overall, while the Lions finished at 28.3 percent.
Multnomah, 8-7 on the year, was led by 15 points apiece from David Walker and Brent Looyenga. Tyler Yates led the team in rebounds with five.
Up next on LCSC’s slate is a trip to La Grande, Ore., on Saturday to face Eastern Oregon University. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
