HELENA, Mont. – The 2021-22 LC State Men’s Basketball season came to an end at the hands of the Jamestown (N.D.) Jimmies in the 2022 NAIA Men’s Basketball Opening Round, presented by Ballogy. Despite a 25-point performance by Nathan Fromm, the Warriors wrapped up the campaign with a record of 22-11 after dropping the contest 84-70.
“Super proud of our guys for battling tonight,” Head Coach Austin Johnson said. “Jamestown is a tough matchup, but I thought we were step-for-step with them up until around the four-minute mark and just ran out of gas. Nate was elite and Silas (Bennion) played like a big-time lead guard. I’m so thankful for this group and everything they’ve had to endure both internally and externally. They’ve embodied toughness and high-level belief. We will miss our three seniors and I want to specifically commend Khalil (Stevenson) for all he’s done for our program over the last three years. It’s been an honor to be his coach.”
The Jimmies scored the first two baskets, but five points from Silas Bennion kept LC in the hunt early on. Oreon Courtney put the Warriors in front 7-6 on an assist from Khalil Stevenson, and Stevenson kept it a one-point game at 16:11.
Stevenson kept the score knotted with a 3 to make it 16-16 seven minutes into the game. Colton Spencer and Courtney combined two hit three straight baskets to give LC a slim 22-16 advantage by 9:19. Nathan Fromm made it a four-point game at 6:30, but JU rallied to tie things up in the last five minutes of the half.
The back-and-forth continued as Stevenson, Bennion and Fromm kept the score close, and a 3-pointer by Fromm had LC ahead 33-30 with two minutes to go. Fromm hit a jumper with 12 seconds on the clock, but a buzzer-beating 3 sent the Jimmies into the half with a 37-35 lead.
A free throw by Bennion put the Warriors within one to start the second half, but a three-point play kept JU in front. The Jimmies made a run to push the margin to eight points (44-36) by the 17:31 mark.
The difference grew to 11 (49-38) five minutes in, but Kai Warren kept the offense going for LC with five straight points. A 3 by Spencer kept it a 10-point game at 11:40.
A triple by Fromm and layup by Courtney cut the deficit to five (63-58) with 6:51 to play. A fadeaway jumper by Bennion made it a three-point game before a layup by the guard cut the margin to 64-62 with 5:42 on the clock.
Will Abram fought to the basket to make it a one-point contest, but another JU run pushed the margin back out to five with 3:27 on the clock.
Jamestown finished off the Warriors by a final of 84-70, ending the LC State Men’s Basketball season.
Fromm led the Warriors with 25 points in the contest and Bennion tallied 16. Al Sommerfield grabbed seven boards, Bennion dished out four assists and had two steals.
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