Box score

DURANGO, Colo. — No. 25 Fort Lewis (11-1 overall, 8-1 RMAC the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) held its opponent to under 30 percent shooting for the second night in a row as the Skyhawks trounced Western New Mexico (4-10, 3-7) 86-47 tonight in Whalen Gymnasium.
 
“I was really happy with the defensive effort overall,” said FLC interim head coach Bob Pietrack. “Inside, outside ... the whole thing. It's encouraging to see us rebound like we have this entire weekend.”
 
Fort Lewis stymied the Mustangs all game long, limiting WNMU to just 27.9 percent shooting from the field (17 of 61). FLC dominated the boards, 51-28 — particularly on the defensive side. The Skyhawks grabbed 40 defensive rebounds while surrendering just eight offensive caroms.
 
The Skyhawks worked the inside-outside game to perfection. The shorter Mustangs had no way of stopping FLC's one-two inside punch of Alex Herrera (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Torrey Udall (nine points, nine rebounds).
 
“Chief was Chief — which is becoming a really good thing,” Pietrack said of the 6-foot-10 Herrera. “And Torrey was strong, too,” he said of the 6-foot-9 Udall.
 
Equally impressive was the play of Nick Tomsick, who scorched Western New Mexico for 23 points. A shooter who has already proven himself in clutch time with three buzzer-beating three-pointers in FLC's first 10 games this season, Tomsick went 5-of-6 from behind the arc tonight and 7-of-9 from the field.
 
“Tomsick's a home run hitter and tonight he hit home runs,” said Pietrack.
 
“I was happy with the way the guys shared the ball and all played together,” he added. Fort Lewis notched assists on 23 of its 29 field goals. Matt Mazarei led the way with six helpers.
 
The Skyhawks shot 51.8 percent from the field (29 of 56) and 48.1 percent from long range (13 of 27). Aside from Tomsick's five treys, a host of Skyhawks connected from behind the arc. Seven different FLC players made three-pointers, including two each from Mike Matthews and Matthias Weissl.
 
No Mustang scored in double digits, although three 0players — Merle Branch, Nate Murdock and Andy Sohlich — each scored eight.
 
Fort Lewis is 11-1 for the first time in school history and takes its Top 25 ranking and record on the road to Denver next weekend, where they'll face Regis (4-8, 3-6) next Friday and No. 2 Metro State (13-0, 9-0) next Saturday. Tip-off for both games is slated for 7 p.m.