GLENDALE, Ariz. – LC State Men's Basketball, receiving votes in the national poll, opened the 2026-27 campaign at the Fultz Memorial Classic with a 72-54 victory over Park-Gilbert (Ariz.) that saw contributions from throughout the lineup. Junior Dylan Skaife tallied a game-high 20 points with four 3-pointers, and Brandon Suber filled up the stat sheet.
Suber led the defense with eight rebounds, and both Dallon Morgan and Trevor Manning grabbed seven. Manning's rebound total was a career high.
"Good first win for the guys," coach Austin Johnson said. "We were pretty shaky in terms of hitting shots and finishing, but I felt like we got pretty good looks. We want these guys to stay confident and keep letting it rip. I felt that defensively we set the tone early and defended how we want to defend and that dictated the game. Skaife and Suber helped put it away down the stretch and I thought Trevor and Elijah (Kersey) gave us a great boost off the bench."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors started with the hot hand and jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first half. Suber scored the first basket of the season before tallies from Josh Salguero, Morgan, Skaife and Royce Fisher gave LC State a 12-point cushion in the first seven minutes. Manning turned a steal by Morgan into a basket to make it 16-3 two minutes later, and a triple by Skaife had the advantage at 20-7 midway through the half.
Park-Gilbert cut the difference back to single digits, 23-15, at 6:11, but a 3-pointer by Elijah Kersey off the bench 30 seconds later pushed the lead to 26-15. Skaife hit another 3 before a jumper by Salguero made it a 31-18 margin with 2:45 to play in the half, and LC State closed out the half with buckets by Salguero and Titus Yearout for a 38-23 advantage at the break.
Tallies by Suber, Skaife and Yearout kept the momentum going for the Warriors to start the second half and grow the lead to 47-28 by 16:28. Fisher added a pair of free throws after a three-minute scoring drought for both teams to make it 49-28 in favor of LC State.
Skaife scored seven straight LC State points in the span of a minute for a 58-40 lead at 8:27. Jamare' Childs and Suber matched baskets by the Buccaneers in the final minutes before a jumper by Mateen Usui closed out the contest.
STAT RECAP
Skaife led all scorers with 20 points on an 8-for-11 night from the field. He went 4-for-6 from 3-point range. Suber added 13 points with a team-best eight rebounds and four assists, and Salguero dropped eight points on 4-for-7 shooting.
Manning and Morgan each grabbed seven rebounds and scored five points, with Manning's rebound total being a career high. Freshman Fisher blocked two shots in his collegiate debut.
LC State shot 42% as a team and outrebounded Park-Gilbert 52-40. The Warriors held the Buccaneers to 28.3% shooting from the floor.
UP NEXT
The Warriors have a quick turnaround before a matchup with host No. 3 Arizona Christian on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Glendale.
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