by By Randy Isbelle
LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State Men’s Basketball team rallied late, but fell short to No. 3 Arizona Christian 81-70 in the Clearwater Casino & Lodge Classic in front of more than 800 fans at the P1FCU Activity Center on Saturday.
The loss dropped the Warriors record to 1-1 on the season. The Firestorm improved to 4-0.
After missing the 2022-23 season and a three-point performance against Northwest Indian College on Wednesday, Quentin Raynor introduced himself to the Warrior faithful. The junior had the best scoring output of an LC State player on the season with a 24-point showing. Raynor was 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-10 from behind the 3-point line.
John Lustig and Javon Jones added eight points each and Alton Hamilton finished with seven points and a team-high six rebounds before fouling out.
“Quentin and Alton were a spark which was encouraging,” coach Austin Johnson said. “We also had a great crowd tonight.”
The Warriors shot 25-of-51 (49%) from the field with 12-of-31 (38.7%) shooting from beyond the arc. LC State relied on its bench offensively with 52 of its 70 points coming from non-starters.
“There were some clear positives and we’ll work to shore up our defense as our schedule doesn’t get any easier,” Johnson said. “Excited to see how we respond.”
