LEWISTON, Idaho – The 2017-18 season came to an end for University of Providence men's basketball in a 79-62 loss to (18) Lewis-Clark State College in the first round of the Frontier Conference playoffs. For the third straight season, UP's season ends with a postseason loss to the Warriors.
 
Led by an offensive frenzy from senior point guard DuShaun Rice, the Argos led LC State through the first eight minutes of the game. Rice scored 8 of UP's first 10 points including 2 made threes.
 
After briefly losing the lead in the middle of the first half, steals from senior guards Sergio Berkley and Jared Schultz put the advantage back in the Argo's favor with just under nine minutes to go in the half. Around the seven minute mark, the Warriors hit back-to-back threes to take a 5 point lead.
 
That lead stood for the next four minutes and then both teams went scoreless for the last 2 minutes and 57 seconds of the first period.
 
The second half started with 5 straight points from the Warriors to give LCSC a 10 point lead which seemed to break the game open. The Warriors led for the rest of the game and held a double-digit advantage most of the way. With five minutes left, the gap was built all the way to 22 points all that 2 more threes from Rice could accomplish was shaving 8 points off that margin.
 
UP got beat at its own game. The Argo entered the game ranked nationally in Total Rebound Defense, Offensive Rebounds per Game, and Total Rebound Margin, but got outrebounded 33-28 and outscored in the paint 52-22. The Warriors were also able to negate one of the Argo's greatest strengths, forcing turnovers with intense pressure.
 
After averaging over 8 steals per game in the regular season (good for 18th in the nation), UP only managed 5 against LCSC and only forced a total of 8 turnovers.
 
Rice led the Argos in scoring with 18 points on 7-14 shooting but also failed to come away with a steal for just the third time all year. Only one other UP player scored in double-digits with Berkley score 10 points on 3-9 shooting.
 
Senior forward Trayvon Bashir continued to do the little things, leading UP with 4 assists, while scoring 8 points with 4 rebounds.
 
The Argos end the season with a record of 11-18 (5-13).