CALDWELL, Idaho – The Warriors erased a 14-point deficit in a second-half surge, but the comeback fell just short with a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by Hope International (Calif.). LC State Men's Basketball finished the road trip 1-1 after a 74-71 loss to the Royals.
"Very pleased with the fight from our guys the last 12-15 minutes, "Head Coach Austin Johnson said. "Sam (Stockton) was awesome leading the charge and Alton (Hamilton) had another good performance. Ultimately, our poor performance in the first half was too hard to come back from. We fouled too much and couldn't contain (Gavin) Ramirez in any way, shape or form. Excited to see how our guys respond as we begin conference play."
LC State is now 2-4 on the season heading into Cascade Conference play next week. The Warriors will host Northwest on Thursday and Evergreen State on Friday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
MaCarhy Morris hit a pair of 3s to start the scoring for LC State, and buckets by Anthony Peoples Jr. and Alton Hamilton kept the score within two, 12-10, five minutes into the half. HIU pulled ahead 18-10 before two triples by Jaedon Bradley and baskets by Javon Jones and Quentin Raynor had the difference at one, 21-20, at 10:28.
Grayson Hunt tied the game 26-26 with a layup at the 7:27 mark on an assist by John Lustig, but the Royals surged to pull ahead 38-29 by 2:38. Raynor hit a 3 and Gorden Boykins added a layup, but HIU carried a 45-34 lead at the half.
Morris scored the first basket of the second half to cut the margin to single digits, and tallies by Lustig and Hamilton maintained a 10-point difference at 52-42 with 15:26 on the clock.
Sam Stockton scored before Hamilton and Raynor went back-to-back to make it a 57-49 contest in favor of HIU with 11:27 to play. Jones matched a Hope International 3-pointer with one of his own to keep the momentum going for LC State. Lustig struck for six straight Warrior points to bring LC within four points, 62-58, at 7:16.
Stockton took a steal back for a basket and free throws by Lustig created a one-point difference with LC State down 63-62 with 4:32 to play. Stockton tied things up with a triple at the 3:33 mark and foul shots by Hamilton gave LC a 67-65 edge.
HIU responded to regain the lead 20 seconds later, but a triple by Davian Brown continued the back-and-forth in the final two minutes. The Warriors tied the game 71-71, but a heart-breaker buzz-beating 3 by HIU gave the Royals a 74-71 victory over LC State.
Lustig and Hamilton led the Warriors with 10 points each and Lustig grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Morris, Hunt, Raynor and Bradley each scored eight points, Brown dished out six assists and Stockton had four steals.
UP NEXT
The Warriors open Cascade Conference play on Nov. 30 when they host Northwest. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in the P1FCU Activity Center.
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