Box score
DURANGO, Colo. — Alex Herrera nearly notched the second triple double in school history as No. 20 Fort Lewis held off a late Colorado Christian rally in an 84-71 win tonight in Whalen Gymnasium.
Herrera scored a career-high 24 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking three shots as the Skyhawks improved to 13-2 overall and 10-2 in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The 6-foot-10 center who was nicknamed “The Chief” as a high schooler in nearby Ignacio, Colo., made eight of his 10 foul shots and went 8-of-13 from the field, powering home three monster dunks in his 28 minutes of action.
Tonight marked the second time in three games in which Herrera rejected eight opponents' shots. He did the same in FLC's 74-52 win at Regis a week ago. His eight blocks are also tied for second most in FLC history.
Colorado Christian (7-13, 2-10) made a furious rally in the final 3:30 to trim a 20-point FLC advantage to just six points before the Skyhawks stretched the lead back to double digits. After
Nick Tomsick hit a jumper with 3:25 remaining, the Skyhawks led 76-56 and seemingly had the game under control.
Fort Lewis head coach
Bob Hofman subbed out his starters in favor of younger players and the Cougars immediately began whittling away at FLC's lead. A 12-0 run allowed CCU to cut the deficit to eight points at 76-68. After
Marcus Ayala made one of two free throws with 57 seconds left, Hofman reinserted his starting lineup. An old-fashioned three-point play by CCU's Wayne McCullough cut the lead to 77-71 before Herrera took over in the final 35 seconds.
During this stretch, the Chief scored four points — including a three-point play of his own — blocked two shots and grabbed a defensive rebound. Of CCU's final three possessions, Herrera rejected two shots and came up with the defensive carom on the other.
He wasn't alone in having a big night for FLC, which led 42-34 at halftime. Ayala came off the bench to score 18 points and went 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Tomsick scored 13 points while notching three assists and going 4-of-5 from the foul line.
Torrey Udall had a solid line with nine rebounds, eight points, three steals and two assists.
Matt Mazarei, who leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, had five helpers.
Wes McKenzie dialed long distance three times, making all three of his bombs to finish with nine points and six rebounds. And
Cade Kloster came off the bench to knock down a pair of treys.
Fort Lewis dominated the statistics, shooting 47.3 percent from the field (26 of 55), 52.6 percent from long range (10 of 19) and 75.9 percent from the line (22 of 29). FLC also outrebounded CCU 41-33 and distributed the ball extremely well, assisting on 21 of its 26 field goals.
The scrappy Cougars got big performances from Kyle Weaver (20 points, four assists, three steals), Avery Redmond (11 points, three assists, two steals) and Joey Trinkle (10 points).
Shooting woes plagued CCU, though, as it shot just 40 percent from the field (26 of 65), 30.4 percent from behind the arc (seven of 23) and 63.2 percent from the line (12 of 19). CCU also passed well, notching 19 assists. The Cougars also forced 21 FLC turnovers.
The Skyhawks return to action at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night when they host Colorado Mines (10-6, 7-5). The Orediggers lost 67-58 at No. 18 Adams State tonight.
Fort Lewis' national champion cycling team will be honored at halftime of the men's game. Individual riders who medaled at USA Cycling collegiate championships in the disciplines of track racing, mountain biking and cyclocross will be honored, along with FLC's 2012 national championship mountain biking squad.
