Pioneers 84... Lake Region State 78

Jace Hill (6'2 Sophomore - Columbia Falls, MT) knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner with 55 seconds remaining to give the Pioneers a 81-76 lead and after a Lake Region basket cut the lead to 81-78, Azenio Cossa (6'3 Sophomore - Maputo, Mozambique) followed up his own miss layup with a dunk to give the Pioneers a 83-78 lead with 17 remaining as the Pioneers outlasted the Royals 84-78 on Sunday afternoon in Miles City, MT. The win sends the Pioneers to Wahpeton, ND for a semifinal contest on Wednesday night at 6:30 PM against the regular season champion NDSCS Wildcats. 

Cossa scored 18 of his 27 points (11-27 FG, 1-5 3's, 4-6 FT) in the 2nd half while adding 8 rebounds and 3 steals to lead 4 Pioneers in double figures. Shad Boyce (6'8 Freshman - Winifred, MT) had a big game in the paint with 17 points (7-9 FG, 3-6 FT) and 14 rebounds. Hill added 13 points (5-9 FG, 2-3 3's, 1-2 FT), 9 rebounds, and 5 assists and Uwami Chongo (6'8 Sophomore - Maputo, Mozambique) scored 11 points (5-12 FG, 1-4 3's, 0-1 FT). 

The Pioneers led 39-35 at halftime and the teams were never separated by more than 6 points for the rest of the 2nd half as MCC made only 3-12 3's in the 2nd half and went 8-14 from the free throw line and was never able to shake the Royals attack. 

Inside the Box Score

• MCC shot 34-74 (46%) from the field and 7-23 (30%) from the 3-point line. MCC was 9-17 at the free throw line. 
• LRSC shot 30-69 (44%) from the field and 8-31 (26%) from the 3-point line. LRSC was 10-13 at the free throw line. 
• MCC outrebounded LRSC 44-37. MCC had 14 offensive rebounds and Lake Region had 9. 
• Both teams turned the ball over 13 times. 
• There were 3 ties and 8 lead changes in the game. 

Lake Region ends their season with a 13-18 record while the Pioneers push to 14-17.