Alisha Alexander | LCSC Assistant Athletic Director-Sports Information

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KIRKLAND, WA – Alton Hamilton notched his fifth double-double of the season and combined with MaCarhy Morris for 42 points to lead No. 21 LC State Men’s Basketball past Northwest (Wash.) by a final of 71-63. The sophomore duo also collected 20 boards and accounted for 12 free throws. Senior Taden King had a career night with seven rebounds in the victory.

“Good road win for the guys,” Head Coach Austin Johnson said. “A true team win. We had some great possessions from our bench on the defensive end which really helped us weather some offensive droughts. MaCarhy had a big second half getting into the paint and free throw line. Alton gutted it out as he has battled some sickness and injuries lately. We continue to take steps defensively and will have another big test tomorrow.”

The win improves the LC State record to 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in Cascade Conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Hamilton helped the Warriors out to a 6-2 lead before a layup by John Lustig and 3 by King made it 11-7 at 16:49 in the first half. Hamilton added another basket before Northwest rallied to tie the score 13-13 seven minutes into the game. A triple by Kasen Carpenter put LC State back in front at 12:36 and Morris kept the Warriors in the lead with a layup at 11:54.

A dunk by Hamilton kept LC State in front by a slim margin as the teams went basket-for-basket. Carpenter added his second 3 of the game at 8:48 for a 25-21 advantage. Free throws knotted the score 25-25 and foul shots by Lustig and Hamilton gave the Warriors a 28-27 edge with 5:12 to play in the half.

Gorden Boykins widened the margin to 31-27 with an and-1 play at 4:50 and Dylan Skaife added two free throws to grow the scoring run to seven straight LC State points by 3:01. King scored to push the stretch to nine points and the Warriors led 35-27 at the break.

Hamilton started the second half for the Warrior with a layup before four points from Morris made the lead 41-32 at 18:14. After a four-minute scoring draught that saw Northwest pull within three, 41-38, Hamilton fought his way to a pair of layups to push the margin back to 45-40 by 13:34.

Jayceon Smith scored twice to break a tie and give LC State a 49-47 advantage at 11:57 and Morris and Hamilton added to the total, but the Eagles surged once more to even the score 50-50 with 8:35 to play.

Morris rattled off four straight points with two free throws and a layup in traffic to put the Warriors in front 54-50 at 7:04. The sophomore added another basket a minute later to keep the margin at four points, 56-52, and Grayson Hunt added four straight points to make it 60-52 by 4:35.

Morris capped the Warrior’s eight-point run at 3:31 with the score at 62-52 ahead of a run by the Eagles to cut the difference to 62-56. Lustig snapped the stretch with a layup and Hamilton converted a free throw before another bucket had the advantage at 67-58 with less than a minute to go.

Four free throws by Morris wrapped up the 71-63 win for the Warriors.

STAT RECAP

Hamilton led the Warriors with a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double. He made a career-high nine field goals on a 9-for-17 night from the field. Morris added 20 points with a career-best eight made free throws to go with seven boards. King matched Morris with seven rebounds, a career-high, to pair with his seven points on 3-for-5 shooting.

The Warriors shot .472 from the field and held Northwest to just .087 (2-for-23) from 3-point range. LC State made 18 free throws.

UP NEXT

The conference weekend continues on Saturday when the Warriors head to Olympia, Wash., to take on Evergreen State College (Wash.). Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.

Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.