KENNEWICK — Lower Columbia College got its fastbreak offense clicking, and the Red Devils’ defense suffocated fifth-ranked Spokane as they rolled to a 69-43 victory in the opening round of the NWAACC Men’s Basketball Championships at the Toyota Center on Thursday.

LCC (19-10) plays Chemeketa in a tournament quarterfinal game at 8 p.m. Friday. The game will air on KLOG-1490.

“We played well at both ends,” LCC coach Jim Roffler said. “Our team defense was very good and our offense was patient and created nice advantages. We made high percentage plays and got a number of fastbreaks that go a long way in the first night of the tournament when teams are shooting poorly.”

The Devils’ hi-octane offense allowed it to make 61 percent of its shots in the first half (14-23), and an eye-popping 71 percent (15-21) in the final 20 minutes. Defensively, the Devils held Spokane to 27 percent shooting (13-48), which included making 7-23 shots from outside the arc.

LCC also dished 23 assists and had 19 turnovers, while Spokane made 10 assists and 18 miscues.

“We put the pedal to the metal, took the pole position and didn’t give up the lead,” Roffler said. “I give a lot of credit to our pit crew (bench players, redshirt players and assistant coaches) who were there to give the starters a boost.”

Only one LCC player, Jeray Key, played more than 30 minutes as the Devils’ bench players logged valuable minutes.

“We gave our big players a lot of good rest because the key for us was to get them rest early in the tournament,” Roffler said. “Alex (King) played only 25 minutes because he got poked in the eye, and Tim (Roffler) didn’t play as much because of a thigh bruise he’s been nursing.”

Marice Tolliver led the devils with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. King added 12 points, Ryan Freeman had 11 points and six rebounds, and Key chipped in six rebounds. Roffler, who keyed many of LCC’s fastbreak opportunities, finished with five assists and three steals.

Red Devils 69, Sasquatch 43

LOWER COLUMBIA (69) — Marice Tolliver 15, Alex King 12, Ryan Freeman 11, Jeray Key 6, Tim Roffler 0, Clint Burgoyne 6, Kekoa Carvalho 6, Jerald Ardoin 6, Conrad Ritchie 5, Al Dickerson 2, Garrett DeGraaff 0.

SPOKANE (43) — Derek Gianukakis 14, Zach Humphrey 5, Brad Johnson 5, Damal Neil 5, Luke Clift 3, Griffon Jones 2, Kevin Bond 2, Kevin Cameron 2, Chris Pynch 2, Brendan Ingebritsen 1, Cole Youngers 0, Justin Anderson 0.

Halftime: LCC 34, CCS 21.

Men’s Tournament

at Kennewick

Thursday

G5: Olympic 80, Mount Hood 75

G1: Yakima Valley 67, Clark 39

G4: Tacoma 83, Blue Mountain 65

G6: Highline 73, Columbia Basin 65

G2: Bellevue 76, Linn-Benton 53

G3: Clackamas 76, Whatcom 72

G7: Lower Columbia 69, Spokane 43

G8: Chemeketa 84, Skagit Valley 61

Friday

G11: Mount Hood 78, Columbia Basin 70

G9: Clark vs. Linn-Benton (10 a.m.)

G10: Whatcom vs. Blue Mountain (noon)

G15: Olympic vs. Highline (2 p.m.)

G13: Yakima Valley vs. Bellevue (4 p.m.)

G14: Clackamas vs. Tacoma (6 p.m.)

G16: Lower Columbia vs. Chemeketa (8 p.m.)

G12: Spokane vs. Skagit Valley (10 p.m.)