DURANGO, CO - February 15, 2008 - The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team clinched their fourth-straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) West Division title Friday night in a 99-81 victory over the visiting Adams State Grizzlies. The Skyhawks improve to 19-4 overall and 14-2 in conference play, while the Grizzlies fall to 16-8 overall and 10-6 in the RMAC.

The Skyhawks opened Friday night's game on a 14-4 run to take control right from the opening tip. The Grizzlies crawled back to within six at the 11:40 mark of the first half, but the Skyhawks answered with a persistent fast break and stellar shooting to finish the half with a 48-35, 13-point lead. The Skyhawks scored 11 first-half fast break points and were led by senior Tim Crowell (Long Beach, CA/Cinicinnati) who scored 15 first-half points on 6-of-8 from the field. Matt Morris (Durango, CO/Durango) scored 10 first-half points on 4-of-7 from the field.

The second half brought more of the same for the Grizzlies. The Skyhawks connected on over 55% of their shots and were led by Devon Manning's (Kirtland, NM/Kirtland) 16 points and six rebounds. Fort Lewis opened the second period by going on a 10-0 run to open the lead to 23. After the Grizzlies closed the gap to 20 (79-59), the Skyhawks went on an 8-0 run to open a 28-point lead at the 6:44 mark. In the closing minutes the Grizzlies came within 18, the closest they were the entire second half.

Manning and Crowell each finished with 24 points in the win. Manning added a game-high 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals for the double-double, while Crowell added eight assists, five rebounds and four steals.

Morris and Ryan Johnson (Aurora, CO/Eaglecrest) were the only other Skyhawks in double figures with 17 points and 14 points respectively. Morris added four rebounds to his career-high 17 points, while Johnson added five assists and four rebounds.

The Skyhawks shot 57.8% from the field on the night and 40% from three-point range. The scored 21 fast break points and 21 points off of turnovers. The Grizzlies scored just four fast break points and 10 points off turnovers. The Grizzlies, however, had 35 bench points compared to the Skyhawks 13 bench points. The Skyhawks recorded only 10 turnovers and nearly 30 assists (29), while the Grizzlies turned the ball over 18 times and recorded 16 assists.

The Skyhawks, nationally ranked #25, try to improve their 23-game home winning streak against the RMAC West Division tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. against CSU-Pueblo.

Box Score