by Alisha Alexander
PORTLAND, Ore. – Sam Stockton did it all for the Warriors on Saturday to help LC State to a 93-78 win over Warner Pacific. The senior finished the night with a double-double on 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds to go with seven assists.
Jaedon Bradley led the contest with 25 points with five 3-pointers to match Quentin Raynor from beyond the arc.
Making the victory even more impressive, the score was tied 45-45 at the half. LC State outscored WPU 48-33 in the final 20 minutes with the help of 46 points off the bench in the contest.
“Super proud of our guys for coming out after halftime with a better defensive mindset,” Head Coach Austin Johnson said. “Credit to Warner Pacific as they scored at will in the first half, but our guys showed a ton of poise which was encouraging. I thought Sam really controlled the game. Proud to see him steady us a bit when things weren’t going well. JB (Bradley) and Quentin were great off the bench and John (Lustig) has put together a string of good games. We’ll need to be much better tomorrow against Multnomah. Excited to see how we respond.”
The victory has LC State at 12-5 overall and 10-1 in Cascade Conference play.
Alton Hamilton and Sam Stockton had the score tied 4-4 in the early minutes before each adding on to give LC an 8-6 edge. John Lustig scored at 16:15 to make it 10-6, and Jaedon Bradley and Stockton each found the basket to keep the slim lead for the Warriors.
With WPU within one, Quentin Raynor nailed a pair of 3s, but the Knights answered to even the score 22-22 midway through the half.
Hamilton broke the tie with a foul shot and Bradley grew the advantage to 26-22 with a 3-pointer at 9:15. Stockton tipped a ball in to cap the six-point run. Warner Pacific scored five, then back-to-back 3s by Bradley and Raynor made it 34-27 at 6:57.
The Knights took the lead with 4:37 to play in the half with two straight 3-pointers. WPU pulled ahead 41-36 before a 3 by Lustig and free throws by Bradley evened things up with 2:24 to go. Fouls shots by Hamilton and a dunk by Lustig kept the score knotted in the final minute and the score sat tied 45-45 at the half.
Davian Brown, Hamilton and Lustig combined to start the second half with a run of five but WPU answered to go basket-for-basket. Bradley, Brown and Raynor kept the 3s coming to match the Knights’ attack. Lustig threw down another dunk and Bradley followed with a triple to give the Warriors a 71-62 advantage at the halfway point of the frame.
Four points from Hamilton in the span of a minute kept the momentum with LC State, and a jumper by Stockton had the lead at 77-66 with 8:19 on the clock. Bradley continued his day with two free throws, a 3 and a layup in 90 seconds to increase the margin to 86-68 with 6:21 to play.
The Warriors cruised through the final minutes of the contest to seal the 93-78 victory.
Bradley led all scorers with 25 points and Lustig added 16. Raynor scored 15 and Stockton notched his double-double with 12 points and a career-high 11 boards. The senior stuffed the stats sheet with seven assists and two blocks. He went 4-for-5 from the field and was 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
