November 21, 2009. Durango, CO. - The Fort Lewis Men's Basketball team held a clinic this weekend in the George B. Boedecker Foundation Classic beating Calumet College of St. Joseph by 31 points (87-56) and trouncing Grand Canyon by 40 points (92-52). The Skyhakws, who are now 2-0, undoubtedly gave their fans a show scoring a total of 179 points in two games.
The Skyhawks started their game against Calumet on a 22-10 run which included four dunks in a row by RMAC Preseason Player of the Year, DeAndre Lansdowne. With 3:46 left in the first half the Skyhawks had built a lead of 26 and holding Calumet to 12 points. Fort Lewis would go into the break up 39-12 on 48% shooting. The Hawks forced Calumet into 16 first half turnovers, 10 of those coming from steals. Lansdowne led the Skyhawks with 10 at the half, including 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Fort Lewis opened up the second half on a 22-7 tear (61-29) with Matt Morris scoring 11 of them. Morris would lead the Skyhawks with 21 points, 15 second half points to go along with 10 rebounds for the first double-double of the season. Lansdowne would finish with 12 points in 21 minutes and reserve Kit Hensel tallied 13 points in 18 minutes. Point guard Matt Billups dished out a team high 5 assists and recorded 4 steals.
Calumet committed 24 turnovers and was held to shooting 25% from the field. Fort Lewis finished the game shooting 49% from the field.
In the second game, the Skyhawks were expecting a bit more of a challenge from the usual tough competitor, Grand Canyon University. What they got was a 40 point victory and a baffled Grand Canyon team. Fort Lewis's stifling defense and upbeat tempo prevented the Lopes from getting any kind of rhythm. The Skyhawks would hold Grand Canyon to only 19 first half points while putting up 50 of their own.
Two players were in double digits for the Hawks' at halftime. Daniel Steffensen had 10 points and 4 assists at the break and Kyle Behrens put up 10 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists. FLC shot an unheard of 68% from the field, 60% from beyond the arc and 100% from the charity stripe on 10-10 from the line.
With the game out of reach in the first minute of the second half, Coach Hofman turned to his reserves that didn't seem to lose a stride and kept the momentum in favor of the Hawks. For the second night in a row, Matt Morris completely dominated in the second half finishing with 18 points, 12 coming in the second half. Morris was a perfect 5-5 from the field and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. Lansdowne would finish the night with 18 points and going 9-9 from the charity stripe. Behrens tallied 12 points and Steffensen ended the night with 10.
Fort Lewis shot an astonishing 56% from the field, 7-15 from three and 78% from the line making it one of the highest percentage games for a FLC team in those three categories. The Skyhawks held the Lopes to an abysmal 35% from the field and 5-20 from three.
The Skyhawks who are undefeated at 2-0 will travel to Espanola Monday to take on Northern New Mexico at 5pm. Fort Lewis will also be heading to Las Vegas, NM for a Cowboy Classic where they will be taking on Angelo State, Friday at 5pm and Jarvis Christian on Saturday at 5pm.
