In a physical contest against rival Mesa State College, the Skyhawk Men leave Grand Junction with a tough loss, 73-63.

With the loss, the Skyhawks move to second place in the RMAC West with just three games remaining, two of which are on the road.

Fort Lewis was unable to control the paint as they had done in most games this season, leading to the ten point loss. The Skyhawks scored 26 from down low, while Mesa State scored 22 points from the lane.

The real margin of victory for the Mavericks came from their bench, who were able to amass for 26 points, while Fort Lewis was only able to get six points from the pine.

Down the Stretch it came down to Jase Herl's ability to make clutch shot after clutch shot for the Mavericks. The Skyhawks were within nine points of the tie with just over three minutes left to play, when Herl made a jump shot to take back the double digit lead, followed by a pair of three point shots to put the game out of reach for Fort Lewis. Herl finished the game with 16 points on five of eight shooting.

The games leading scorer was Skyhawk guard DeAndre Lansdowne, who collected 24 points on six of eight shooting, and also earned five assists.