November 27, 2009.  Las Vegas, NV.  -  Down twenty-one, win by three. Hard to believe but that's exactly what the Fort Lewis Men's Basketball team did last night against Angelo State in the New Mexico Highlands Thanksgiving Classic. After being down 11-32 in the first half, the Skyhawks rallied to take the game in overtime and hit a three pointer at the buzzer to win 95-92 and remain undefeated at 4-0.

Angelo State would start the game off on an 11-0 tear. The Hawks' didn't score until the 15:58 mark on a DeAndre Lansdowne layup. Over the the next few minutes, the Rams would stretch their lead to 21 points with 7:11 left in the first at 32-11. At that point the Skyhawks would go on a 21-9 run of their own cutting the lead to nine at 32-41 at the break. 

Fort Lewis shot 38% from the field on 10-26 shooting. Matt Billups led the way for the Skyhawks in the first half with 11 points. The Hawks' went 10-12 from the line. The Rams shot an astounding 56% from the field and went 4-8 from beyond the arc.

The Rams were once again able to stretch their lead to 14 points (51-37) in the start of the second half but the Skyhawks would not go away rattling off a 10-0 run to bring it within four points (47-51) with 13:58 left in the second. Angelo St. would retaliate over the next six minutes and go ahead by 12 points after a 15-7 run. Fort Lewis would fight back to go ahead for the first time in the game with 3:36 on the clock with a Kyle Behrens tip in for the 71-70 advantage. Bryse Velasquez would sink two free throws to put the Fort up by four but a turnover and a bucket by the Rams would notch the game at 80 sending it into overtime.

In the overtime period, Angelo St scored the first six points, going up 86-80. Behrens would keep the Hawks' in it, hitting a two free throws and a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 90-91 with 00:41 left to play. Twenty seconds later Behrens had another tip in to steal the lead 92-91. The Rams would sink a single free throw to tie it once more at 92-92 with nine seconds left. Velasquez would bring the ball up the court, pass it to Daniel Steffensen who would find Velasquez for the give n go in the corner for the buzzer beater winning three (95-92)

Behrens would lead the Skyhawks with a double-double, finishing with 28 points, 23 in the second half and overtime, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Lansdowne and Steffensen ended the night with 17 points apiece and Billups tallied 13 points. Fort Lewis shot 46% from the field and an impressive 53% from behind the arc. LaMarshall Corbett would lead the Rams with 30 points.

Fort Lewis remains undefeated at 4-0 and will play again tonight against Jarvis Christian at 5:00 pm.