LEWISTON, Idaho – Nathan Fromm put together an impressive performance for No. 20 Lewis-Clark State Men’s Basketball on Thursday night to help the Warriors to a 104-66 victory over the Yellowstone Christian College Centurions. The junior tied an LC State record was his 11-for-11 performance from the floor, including going 3-for-3 from 3-point range.
“The team plays so together,” Fromm said of what played a factor in his big night. “Silas (Bennion) found me a lot on transition, and we got stops on defense so that allowed us to run.”
With the victory, LC State is 2-0 to start the season. The Warriors found their footing earlier than the previous night and commanded the score from the start.
“Our guys were more locked in tonight and it showed early on defensively and with how we attacked offensively,” Head Coach Austin Johnson said. “It was special to see Nate (Fromm) get in such a rhythm and play with a high level of confidence. We have lots to work on but these first couple of games were definitely a great learning experience moving forward.”
Fromm set the pace for the Warriors with a 3-pointer to open the contest. He added back-to-back layups a minute later before Kevin Baker and Colton Spencer added five points to the nine-point run to give LC a 12-2 advantage at 16:10. Another Warriors burst, fueled by back-to-back triples by Fromm and Khalil Stevenson, pushed the lead to 14 points by 12:21, and a 3-pointer and dunk by Stevenson had LC up 25-10 midway through.
Six straight points by Baker sparked stretch of 15 unanswered points to give the Warriors a commanding 45-18 advantage with 3:32 to play in the half. Brennen Newsom and Kalani Sapwell scored within a minute of each other to make it a 30-point game, and a triple by Sam Stockton and two more points from Newsom closed out the first half with LC up 55-24.
Fromm kicked off the second half with the first six Warrior points. His jumper at 16:32 started a run of nine to grow the lead to 67-30 by 14:26, and a three-point play by Teagen Hoard made it a 42-point margin (76-34) at 11:37.
Back-to-back buckets by Al Sommerfield, a layup and a 3, kept the LC momentum going at the halfway mark as the Warrior offense continued to surge ahead of YCC. A layup by Stockton gave LC State its largest lead of the night, 45 points, with a score of 98-53 with 2:52 on the clock. The Warriors finished off the night with the 104-63 victory.
Fromm led LC State with his career-high 25 points. His 11-for-11 night ties the single-game LC State Men’s Basketball record, and he was 3-for-3 from 3-point range. Baker added 11 points and Newsom scored 10. Newsom and Stevenson led at the boards with five rebounds, Sapwell dished out four assists and Silas Bennion had three steals. Baker and Joel Meske each blocked two shots.
As a team, the Warriors shot 57.1 percent from the field and held the Centurions to a 38.8 field goal percentage. YCC was just 3-for-25 from 3.
LC State hosts Northwest Indian College on Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m. in the Activity Center. Head to lcwarriors.com/tickets to purchase single-game or season passes. Streaming information can be found on lcwarriors.com/watch.
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