No. 5 College of Idaho Wins 81-71 Over Lewis-Clark State

Despite a pair of early nine-point deficits, No. 5 College of Idaho managed to be unphased by the early deficit on its way to an 81-71 win over Lewis-Clark State. The visitors from Lewiston entered the contest at the top of the Cascade Collegiate Conference with a 7-0 mark but they left Caldwell on Saturday with its first conference loss and a share of the league lead with the Yotes, who are also 7-1.
 
College of Idaho (12-2, 7-1 CCC) was able to land four players in double figures, including Samaje Morgan who scored a team-high 19. He was joined in double figures by Drew Wyman (15), Straton Rogers (14) and Jake O'Neil (10).
 
Lewis-Clark State (9-5, 7-1 CCC) also had four players in double digits as Jaedon Bradley scored a game-high 24 on the strength of seven 3-pointers in the loss. Quentin Raynor added 16, Alton Hamilton had 12 and Davian Brown provided 11.
 
Down 19-10 with 13:40 left in the first half, College of Idaho came back with a 16-5 run over the next four minutes to take a 26-21 lead with 9:33 left in the opening 20 minutes. The host Yotes stretched the lead to as much as 11 in the first half as they shot at a 60.6% (20-for-33) clip. Morgan scored 11 of his 19 and Wyman had 10 of his 15 in the first 20 minutes to lead C of I.
 
College of Idaho stretched an eight-point lead at the half to 18, 61-43 to start the second half as Johnny Radford made all three of his free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. A resilient LC State squad eventually cut the deficit to one, 72-71 when Raynor knocked down a 3-pointer with 2:41 left to play. The host Yotes answered the challenge when Morgan made a jumper and a put-back attempt by Rogers saw the College of Idaho score the final nine points of the game on its way to an 81-71 win.