LEWISTON, Idaho – A hot-shooting No. 22-ranked Lewis-Clark State College Warrior program who is vying for a regular season title on their Senior Weekend was too much to overcome for the Corban University Men's Basketball team tonight in western Idaho, as the Dubs dropped an 86-63 decision to fall below .500 overall and in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play for the first time since before their three-game home winning streak that shook up the conference standings.
"This loss is a tough one to swallow, as the preparation we put in was extensive and as a coaching staff, we felt like our guys were ready for this battle," detailed Warriors' head coach Wayne Mendezona. "We started strong and stayed competitive in the first half. I'm proud of their efforts in stretches, but we have to have that collective mindset to be on the same page on all possessions and not just take certain possessions off. We need to understand the mistakes that were made and recover quickly, because we play a Walla Walla team tomorrow who would love nothing more than to finish their season with an upset. We have the opportunity to finish out the regular season in a strong fashion and prepare for our first round playoff game. I hope the guys take this loss personally and be ready to go tomorrow night, raise their level of play, and come out victorious heading into a tough first round postseason game on the road."
Despite a quick 5-0 lead for Corban (13-14, 9-10) on their first three possessions, Lewis-Clark State (21-6, 15-4) claimed the scoreboard advantage with over 13 minutes to play in the opening half and never surrendered the lead again, leading by as many as 26 points as the Navy and Gold couldn't keep pace offensively despite shooting the ball well. The Dubs shot the ball just under 48% overall, yet LC State claimed a 57% field goal percentage while hitting 58% of their attempts from beyond the three-point arc.
Corban redshirt junior center Tj Zimmermann led the team in scoring with 13 points and six rebounds, yet four personal fouls limited Mendezona's leading threat in the paint to just 28 minutes despite averaging over 30 minutes per game on the season. Redshirt junior guard Clyde Harris Jr. added 10 points in ten minutes played, with the remainder of the Corban lineup limited to single-digit scoring.
Lewis-Clark State splashed 14 triples as a team, with guard Jamare' Childs responsible for nearly half of them via his game-high 18 points on 6-for-8 from beyond the arc. Four more hometown student-athletes were in double-figures, with guard John Lustig making up for his absence in the two teams' prior meeting in Salem by scoring 15 points and hauling in seven rebounds tonight.
An extremely late 9pm tipoff tomorrow night in southwestern Washington is how the Warriors will conclude their 2025-26 regular season, needing a win against Walla Walla University (1-24, 1-18) to lock up the No. 7-seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament.
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