SALEM, Ore. – Every Warrior scored in the opening contest of the Corban Classic on Friday when No. 19 LC State Men’s Basketball (7-0) cruised to an 84-23 victory over Portland Bible College. The Warriors used multiple scoring runs, including a 19-0 stretch in the final eight minutes, to earn the seventh win of the season. 23 points is the fourth-lowest point total allowed in program history and fewest since 1959.
“I was pleased with our defensive focus for a full 40 minutes today,” Head Coach Austin Johnson said. “It can be hard to stay locked in for that long, but each guy that played helped us maintain a winning focus. We’ll need to be even better tomorrow against a high-scoring Ottawa team.”
Al Sommerfield gave the Warriors a 3-2 lead with a three-point play in the first two minutes. Sommerfield added another six points and Nathan Fromm drained two free throws to make it an 11-0 run for LC State.
The Warriors added on with baskets from Brennen Newsom and Oreon Courtney to push the advantage to 15-4. Will Abram grabbed an offensive board and put it back and grow the margin to 11 points, 17-6, by 10:56.
Sommerfield continued his hot streak with a layup a minute later, and two foul shots by Abram continued the run. Teagen Hoard threw down a dunk after his second steal in 30 seconds to cap the LC rally at eight points and give the Warriors a commanding 23-7 advantage by the 8:42 mark.
Khalil Stevenson assisted Abram on a layup before draining a 3 to open a 7-0 stretch, capped by a jumper by Newsom, to put LC in front 30-7. Fromm sparked a stretch of 11, including a pair of 3-pointers by Colton Spencer and one by Kai Warren, that made it 44-11 with less than two minutes remaining in the half. LC State led Portland Bible College 44-14 at the break.
Stevenson found Fromm under the basket to pick the momentum back up in the second half. Kevin Baker tipped a ball in before Bennion dropped in a layup to make it a 6-0 run to open the frame.
Fromm followed up a Stockton jumper with a dunk to give the Warriors 56-21 lead at 13:34. Hoard, Newsom and Courtney scored three straight baskets to grow the LC run to eight straight, and a 3 by Spencer capped the run at 11 to make it 65-21 with 9:14 to play.
In the final eight minutes, Kalani Sapwell, Courtney, Newsom, Spencer, Abram, Grant Ellison and Joel Meske combined for a 19-0 run to close out the contest. LC rolled to an 84-23 victory.
Fromm led LC State with 13 points in the contest, while Sommerfield and Spencer each added 11. Newsom led the defense with seven boards and Abram had six. Stockton and Stevenson each dealt four assists and Stockton had three steals.
As a team, the Warriors shot 53 percent from the field and held PBC to 19.6 percent. The Wildcats were just 2-for-24 from 3. LC State outrebounded PBC 49-23 and forced 24 turnovers. 53 Warrior points came off the bench compared to one bench point for Portland Bible.
LC State will wrap up its stay in Salem on Saturday when they Warriors face Ottawa (Ariz.) for the first time in program history. The game is slated for noon.
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