Lewis & Clark College men’s basketball capped off a magical run to the Northwest Conference (NWC) Tournament Championship on March 1.
The way the season started, few people outside of the program could have imagined the Pioneers cutting down the nets at the end of the NWC Tournament. During the previous 2023–24 season, men’s basketball finished in ninth place out of nine NWC teams, with a 2–14 conference record. At the start of the 2024–25 season, Lewis & Clark was picked to finish dead last in the conference based on the NWC Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
All season long, the Pioneers were out to prove people wrong. Lewis & Clark made a statement in their conference opener, when they dominated rival Willamette University, 76–55, in Salem. As the season progressed, the Pioneers used sweeps of Linfield University and Pacific University to put themselves in contention for a spot in the NWC Tournament for the first time since 2015.
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Lewis & Clark needed to beat George Fox University to clinch a spot in the four-team NWC Tournament. The Pioneers went on the road to Newberg, Oregon, and played an intense back-and-forth contest. The Bruins had the ball and were leading by three with 30 seconds to play. Senior Isaac Ticeson stole the inbound pass and hit a layup while being fouled to turn the tide. The Pioneers forced the game into overtime, and Ticeson went on to score 6 of his career-high 30 points in the extra session to lead Lewis & Clark to a playoff-clinching 85–83 overtime win.
With the odds stacked against them, Lewis & Clark headed to Spokane, Washington, for the 2025 NWC Tournament. They were the fourth seed and had to play host and No. 1 seed Whitworth University. The Pirates owned a 20-game winning streak against Lewis & Clark coming into the NWC Semifinals, including a pair of tight wins in the regular season. Whitworth had also won four straight NWC Tournament Titles and had made it to the NWC Championship Game for 22 straight seasons.
None of that would phase head coach Tim McCrory’s squad. Led by their eight seniors, Lewis & Clark used a 14–4 run midway through the second half to take control and held on for a 71–64 upset win. Seniors Mikey Medlock Jr. (24 points) and Sam Henderson (17 points) combined for 41 points, and Ticeson and junior Andre Treadwell added 9 points apiece.
The following night, Lewis & Clark had to take on No. 3 Whitman College. Lewis & Clark led for most of the game but found themselves trailing 41–38 with 12:12 to go in regulation play. Ticeson and Henderson combined for an 8–0 run to put Lewis & Clark ahead 46–41, and the Pioneers eventually cruised to a 70–57 victory. Henderson poured in a team high 20 points, while Ticeson (13 points), Medlock Jr. (12 points), and junior Taien Jackson (10 points) all joined him in double figures.
As the final buzzer sounded, the team, along with their friends and family who made the trip to Spokane, celebrated the most unlikely of championships. Just over a year after going 2–14 in conference, the Pioneers were heading back to the NCAA DIII National Tournament for the first time since 2002.
While they would ultimately fall 67–50 to No. 14 University of St. Thomas (Texas) in the NCAA First Round, the season still will go down as one of the program’s best this century.
Athletics Men’s Basketball
