Box score
LAS VEGAS, N.M. — After dropping a 66-64 heartbreaker at Western New Mexico on Friday, it was gut-check time for the Skyhawks last night at New Mexico Highlands. The team responded, giving No. 20 FLC (15-4 overall, 12-4 in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) an 83-74 win over the Cowboys (10-11, 8-9) in the John A. Wilson Complex — one of the toughest barns in the league for visiting teams to pull out a victory.
“It was a huge victory for us on the back end of an incredibly tough trip,” said FLC associate head coach
Bob Pietrack. “It was a big-time gut-check for us. It was nice to see us have a team victory like that.”
The Skyhawks stormed out to a 48-35 halftime lead and only trailed once — 4-2 in the game's second minute.
Sophomore center
Alex Herrera had another typical game, scoring a game-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and a 6-of-8 night from the line. FLC's 6-foot-10 big man made his presence felt in the paint, too, grabbing six rebounds and blocking four shots.
“Another huge night for the Chief,” said Pietrack. “It's becoming the norm.”
Junior gunner
Nick Tomsick added 20 points and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. He knocked down two of FLC's 10 three-pointers as the Skyhawks shot 50 percent from behind the arc.
“Tomsick played great for us,” Pietrack said.
The Skyhawks lost senior forward
Torrey Udall to an unspecified injury early in the game and turned to an unlikely source — little-used redshirt freshman forward
Kody Salcido, who knocked down his first career three-pointer and added a steal in seven minutes of action.
“Cody gave us some great minutes in relief of Torrey,” said Pietrack. “Hopefully we'll get him back quickly.”
The balanced FLC attack saw the bench chip in 26 points — eight each for
Cade Kloster and
Mike Matthews and seven for
Marcus Ayala.
Starting guards
Wes McKenzie (seven points) and
Matt Mazarei (five assists) also contributed to the team effort.
The Cowboys were led by Mannie Cass (19 points), Stargell Love (15 points) and Lavell McDade (13 points, six assists).
NMHU shot a respectable 44.3 percent from the field (27-of-61).
Free throws factored into Fort Lewis' victory, as the Skyhawks went 21-of-24 from the charity stripe (87.5 percent). The Cowboys shot well, too, going 13-of-16 from the foul line (81.3 percent), but the eight fewer makes and attempts weighed heavily in FLC's favor.
The Skyhawks dominated the glass, outrebounding NMHU 41-24.
Jared Smith led the way with seven caroms, including five defensive boards.
Salvaging a split on the road was important for the Skyhawks, who find themselves in a three-way battle for second place in the RMAC standings. Colorado Mesa (13-4 in league games) currently owns second place by virtue of one more game played that Fort Lewis and No. 14 Adams State, both of whom sport 12-4 league records. The Grizzlies — FLC's travel partner — dropped both games in New Mexico this weekend.
Fort Lewis plays its next four games in Whalen Gymnasium the next two weekends. Fifth-place Colorado State-Pueblo (10-12, 9-7) visits Durango on Friday, with UC-Colorado Springs (4-16, 4-12) coming to town on Saturday.
The Skyhawks swept their Pikes Peak Region road trip to start the 2012-13 league season, beating UC-Colorado Springs 72-69 on Nov. 30 and CSU-Pueblo 82-80 in overtime on Dec. 1.
