LEWISTON, Idaho – The Bushnell men's basketball team dominated the first half and led by 17 points with 15 minutes to go, but No. 22-ranked Lewis-Clark State College held the Beacons to just six the rest of the way to earn a 75-66 victory and a share of the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season championship.
 
The Beacons were firing on all cylinders in the first half, building a 46-39 advantage at the break after shooting 54% from the field and hitting 4-for-7 from three-point range. A 14-4 run to open the second half put Bushnell ahead by 17 points, 60-43 with 15:12 remaining, but the Warriors flipped a switch, out-scoring Bushnell 32-6 over the remainder of the game to pull away and earn their right to cut down the nets.
 
"We played great basketball for 26 straight minutes tonight and built a solid lead on the road against the No. 22-ranked team and our conference champions," said Head Coach Eddie Alexander. "The last 14 minutes we struggled to run offense and finish around the rim. I give credit to LC State and how they got extremely physical with us. Unfortunately, whistles didn't help us and we were playing shorthanded without our best paint player in Kaleb Burnett."
 
Cory Johnson continued his torrid scoring pace to end the regular season, earning 24 points after a 19-point first half. Johnson has averaged nearly 30 points per game over the last two weeks and has made a strong case for First-Team All-Conference recognition.
 
With Burnett on the shelf, Keenan Reckamp stepped up with his first collegiate start and made the most of it with 12 points. Ashton Harvey added ten points and seven rebounds.
 
LC State (22-6, 16-4) were led by John Lustg, posting a double-double with 22 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The Warriors end their season tied for first-place with Eastern Oregon University, and have claimed the top seed and homefield advantage for the CCC tournament.
 
UP NEXT: The Beacons close out the regular season at 13-14 overall and finish 10-10 in the CCC. Bushnell tied with Corban University for sixth-place but earn the No. 6 seed by virtue of a regular-season sweep over their Willamette Valley rivals.
 
Bushnell will be back on the court on Wednesday in the CCC quarterfinals, traveling to Ashland, Oregon to face No. 3 seed Southern Oregon University at 7:00 pm.