BUTTE — Lewis-Clark State pulled out the upset, and the Warriors are now headed for Kansas City.
Six LC State players scored in double figures as the 11th-seeded Warriors pulled past No. 3 Montana Tech 85-77 in the second round of the NAIA men's basketball championship on Saturday evening at the HPER Complex to advance to the Round of 16.
Davian Brown scored a team-high 18 points for LC State, Quentin Raynor had 13 and Alton Hamilton had 12. Sam Stockton nearly had a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Warriors led 46-45 at the break in a game that saw the teams exchange 13 lead changes and seven ties. A jumper from LC State's Gorden Boykins with 13:09 remaining in the second half put the Warriors up 57-54 and they held the lead for the remainder of the game. LC State shot an even 50% from the field to Tech's 43.3.
The Orediggers, which hosted first- and second-round games for the second straight season, end their campaign at 27-5 overall a year after advancing to the Round of 8 and two seasons removed from qualifying for the national tournament for the first time in program history. Tech headed into this national tournament as the three-time Frontier Conference regular-season and tournament champion.
Tech was led by 18 points from Hayden Diekhans, 17 from Caleb Bellach, 11 from Asa Williams and 10 from Ifeanyi Okeke. This was the final collegiate game for seniors Bellach, Williams, Chrishon Dixon, Bridger Deden and Sam Gray.
