They Fort Lewis College men's basketball team found defeat on Friday night in Las Vegas, New Mexico, 93-80 to New Mexico Highlands.

The game started off going back and forth between the two teams, with seven lead changes, while no team led by more than eight points. At half time, the NMH Cowboys held a four point lead, 45-41.

In the second half, the Skyhawks could not stop the offensive onslaught brought on by the Cowboys, who took a 15 point lead under four minutes into the second half, and never looked back.

Fort Lewis could not find an answer for New Mexico Highlands Reshard Peterson and Mindagaus Markevicious who had 23 and 22 points respectively.

A defining statistic in the contest was the shooting from the Cowboys, who were able to shoot 50 percent for the game, and hit 13 of 26 three point shots. The Skyhawks could counter with just 2 of 8 shooting from beyond the arc, 0 for 5 in the second half, and 46 percent shooting for the game.

Turnover also played a key factor in the game, with New Mexico Highlands committing just 16, while Fort Lewis gave the ball away 23 times.

DeAndre Lansdowne and Kirk Archibeque were two bright spots in the game for Fort Lewis, scoring 23 and 21 points respectively, both leading the team in scoring.

With the loss, Fort Lewis falls back into a tie for the RMAC West lead with New Mexico Highlands with a 7-3 record in conference play, 16-5 overall. The Skyhawks will attempt to take back sole possession of the conference lead tonight, when the face CSU Pueblo, in Pueblo tipping off tonight at 8pm.