DURANGO, CO - January 12, 2008 - The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team defeated the visiting University of Colorado at Colorado Springs 82-55 Saturday night to improve to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) action. The Mountain Lions fall to 6-9 overall and 2-5 in the RMAC.

After a sluggish beginning to their first half, Fort Lewis went on a 20-7 run to close the final 10 and a half minutes to grab a commanding 15-point lead at the break. Nine of the 20 points came from senior point guard Tim Crowell (Long Beach, CA/Cincinnati).

Five minutes into the first half the Mountain Lions had cut the Skyhawk lead to 14, but the next four minutes the Skyhawks scored 12 points and held Colorado Springs to just two to claim a 57-33 lead. The remaining 11 minutes was full of foul shots as both teams went into the bonus. They combined for 60 free throw attempts on the night. As the teams exchanged fouls, two Mountain Lion players fouled out and the entire Skyhawk bench received playing time. At the conclusion the Skyhawks secured their seventh-straight victory.

Crowell led the Skyhawks with 19 points on 7-for-11 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line. He added three assists and two rebounds in the win. Ryan Johnson (Aurora, CO/Eaglecrest) added 14 points, while Trent Bowman (Durango, CO/Durango) scored 12 and Ryan Yates (Arvada, CO/Arvada West) scored 10.

Fort Lewis had 26 points off the bench and 17 points off of turnovers. They out rebounded the Mountain Lions 42 to 34 and out shot them 47.4% to 35.2%.

The Skyhawks return to action Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. against arch-rival Mesa State in the Whalen Athletic Center. Tuesday is "PACK THE WAC" night as the Skyhawks try to improve their win streak to eight. The game can be heard live on KIUP 930 AM or online at www.radiodurango.com. Live stats will also be available at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/fortlewis/mbball/.

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