Box Score

DURANGO, Colo. — Chris Goutama hit a 17-foot straightaway jumper with 3.7 seconds remaining in regulation to lead No. 9 Colorado Mines (13-2 overall, 9-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) to a 66-65 win over Fort Lewis (8-7, 6-5) tonight in Whalen Gymnasium.

Goutama's shot bounced off the front of the rim, then high in the air before it dropped through the twine, giving the Orediggers not just the lead, but killing precious time in the process.

Matt Billups was unable to get off a shot before the final buzzer in a controversial ending. Billups, who wasn't defended on the inbounds pass after Goutama's basket, let it roll nearly to half court before he grabbed it and dribbled toward the right baseline. It appeared the game clock started before Billups touched the ball, though, preventing the senior guard to get a good look.

A sparse crowd — due largely to the Denver Broncos' playoff game at New England — was treated to a back-and-forth affair that saw 19 lead changes and 12 tied scores. No team even flirted with a double-digit lead, with FLC's seven-point edge at 12-5 early in the game marking the biggest lead. Mines had five-point advantages on two occasions.

With his team up by one point with a minute-and-a-half remaining, Matt Morris drove through traffic and buried a layup to give the Skyhawks a 65-62 lead with 1:26 remaining. Mines answered with a jumper by Brett Green in the paint with 58 seconds left to pull within one.

Fort Lewis would fail to generate a good look down the stretch in its final two possessions, though. Marcus Ayala was forced to take a desperation field goal with 25 seconds left and CSM's Luke Meisch collected the rebound. After a timeout with 17 seconds left, Mines inbounded the ball to Goutama, who dribbled the clock down before launching his game-winning field goal.

Billups finished with a game-high 17 points to lead the Skyhawks, while guards Matthias Weissl (12 points) and Mike Matthews (10) sparked FLC with timely three-point shooting. The Skyhawks buried 10 treys — four by Weissl, including a pair of big threes down the stretch. Matthews, Billups, and Ayala each hit two treys.

Morris saw his seven-game double-double steak come to an end, finishing with nine points, nine rebounds, and a team-high four assists. He helped the Skyhawks win the rebounding battle by a 33-30 clip.

The Orediggers were led by Green (14 points) and Trevor Wages (10 points, 10 rebounds). Goutama finished with nine points and five assists.

Mines helped themselves by shooting a blistering 93.3 percent from the foul line, making 14 of 15 charity shots. Fort Lewis was hot, too, making nine of 11 free throws (81.8 percent).

While few fouls were called — just 25 total — yet the ones that did affected the pace of the game. Morris picked up two quick fouls in the first half and his third just 1:21 into the second stanza. The result limited him to 31 minutes and changed his rebounding intensity.

Fort Lewis' starting center, 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman Alex Herrera — also had three fouls and was limited to 11 minutes.

At the midpoint of the RMAC regular season, Fort Lewis finds itself in a logjam in the middle of the league standings. Eight teams sit within three games of each other in fourth through 12th place. At 6-5 in league games, Fort Lewis is tied for fifth with Colorado Mesa and UC-Colorado Springs.

The Skyhawks hit the road for a huge trek to Denver next weekend, where they'll face No. 5 Metro State (15-1, 10-1) at 7 p.m. Friday and Regis (4-11, 1-10) at 5 p.m. Saturday.