Box Score

DURANGO, Colo. — After dropping back-to-back one-point losses in its past two home games, Fort Lewis (10-9 overall, 8-7 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) grinded out a 68-54 win over Western New Mexico (8-12, 8-8) tonight in Whalen Gymnasium.

In the face of unrelenting pressure from Western New Mexico — which logged 11 steals, six blocks, and forced an uncharacteristically-high 23 FLC turnovers — the Skyhawks simply laced up their work boots and scratched out a win.

The game was made for FLC's senior standout, Matt Morris, who notched his 11th double-double of the season with another blue collar effort. Morris had 18 points, 14 rebounds (12 on the defensive end), and three assists, while shooting just eight times from the field. He made the most of his touches, though, going 5-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the line.

Riding on Morris' broad shoulders, the Skyhawks dominated the boards, outrebounding the Mustangs 48-35.

Fort Lewis' defense forced Western New Mexico into a dismal night from the field. WNMU shot just 29 percent (20 of 69) and 30.4 percent from behind the arc (seven of 23).

No team built a large lead in the see-saw first half. Fort Lewis led 28-24 at intermission and didn't stretch the margin to double digits until midway through the second half. WNMU could trim the lead to no less than seven points in the final 10 minutes.

T.J. Riley led the Mustangs with 16 points, while Chad Carter added 13 and Lucio Luttrell had 10.

Free throw shooting plagued WNMU throughout, as the Mustangs shot just 46.7 percent from the line (seven of 15).

The Skyhawks, on the other hand, were economical from the charity stripe, sinking 84 percent of their foul shots (21 of 25), including a perfect 8-of-8 in the final two minutes when WNMU was forced to foul to stop the clock.

Marcus Ayala added 13 points for FLC, while Andre Marquez had 11 off the bench.

After shooting just 34.6 percent from the field in the first frame, the Skyhawks made half of their field goal attempts in the second stanza.

Fort Lewis moved into sixth place in a tight RMAC playoff race with tonight's victory. FLC wraps up its homestand at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night when it hosts New Mexico Highlands (10-10, 8-8). The Cowboys lost 86-66 tonight at Adams State.

Several league games were postponed tonight due to heavy snows along the Front Range.