GOLDEN, CO - January 5, 2008 - The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team defeated the hosting Colorado School of Mines 98-63 Saturday night in their first contest of the new year. The Skyhawks improve to 9-3 overall and 4-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), while the Orediggers fall to 8-7 overall and 1-4 in the RMAC.

In a mostly one-sided contest, the Skyhawks opened the games on a 13-5 run. They continued to hold a three to eight point lead until the final three minutes of the first half when they went on a 10-3 run to grab a 14-point lead going into halftime.

The second half brought more of the same for the Skyhawks who opened a 29-point lead just over eight minutes into the half. Fort Lewis hit five of their first six shots from the field including three three-point plays from Devon Manning (Kirtland, NM/Kirtland) who became Fort Lewis' 19th player to score 1,000 point in his career at the 17:33 mark. He hit his third of three consecutive three-point plays to give the Skyhawks the 58-35 advantage. They continued to widen the lead for a majority of the half, highlighted by an 8-2 run between the 9:33 and 6:33 marks. The Skyhawks won by a final score of 63-98.

Manning finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds in his first double-double of the season. Ryan Yates (Arvada, CO/Arvada West) finished with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-10 from the field including 4-of-4 from downtown. DeAndre Lansdowne (Albuquerque, NM/Sandia) added 14 points on 6-of-7 from the field.

The Skyhawks shot 63.2% from the floor on the night and 51.9% from beyond the arch (14-for-27). They out rebounded the Orediggers by 20 (39-19), tallied 18 second chance points and recored 48 points off the bench.

The Skyhawks return to action Friday night at 8:00 p.m. against the Regis University Rangers in the Whalen Athletic Center. The game can be heard live on KIUP 930 AM or online at www.radiodurango.com. Live stats will also be available for the game at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/fortlewis/mbball/.

Box Score