Box score

DURANGO, Colo. — Fort Lewis (10-1 overall, 7-1 RMAC the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) held New Mexico Highlands (5-8, 3-6) to just 24 first half points and 29 percent shooting from the field to give interim head coach Bob Pietrack an 81-60 win tonight in Whalen Gymnasium.
 
“Our defensive energy was fantastic,” said Pietrack. “I thought we guarded well. We had talked about guarding well all week long.”
 
This morning, Director of Athletics Gary Hunter announced that head coach Bob Hofman would be taking an indefinite medical leave of absence and that Pietrack — Hofman's top assistant for the past nine seasons — would take over as interim skipper.
 
“It's out tenth team win,” Pietrack said of his troops, a group that improved to 10-1 overall — the first time in school history that the Skyhawks have reached that plateau. “It's all about our program and all about the players, regardless of who the coach is.”
 
Sophomore center Alex Herrera nearly had a double-double by halftime, finishing the game with 17 points and 13 rebounds. “Chief,” as he's nicknamed, went 9-of-13 from the line and had nine points and nine caroms at intermission.
 
“Chief was a force again,” said Pietrack.
 
Nick Tomsick added 15 points for FLC, while Marcus Ayala chipped in 14.
 
Matt Mazarei, who leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, again had a good night running the floor, passing off for five helpers with no miscues.
 
“Mazarei took care of the ball again, which was fantastic.”

Fort Lewis shot well all game long. FLC knocked down half of its field goals (25 of 50) and nearly 43 percent of its bombs (9 of 21), while making the most of its charity shots (76 percent, 22 of 29).
 
The Cowboys, on the other hand, were limited to 29 percent from the field (20 of 69) and 27.3 percent from behind the arc (6 of 22).
 
Mannie Cass led the Cowboys with 14 points, while Lavell McDade added 13. Lionel Coleman and Ray Riley each added 12. 

Thanks to Herrera's 13 boards, FLC outrebounded the Cowboys 41-36. Augustus French led NMHU with 10 boards, seven of which came on the offensive end.
 
The Skyhawks wrap up their two-game homestand at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night against Western New Mexico (4-9, 3-6), which lost 87-75 at No. 18 Adams State tonight.