2012-13 RMAC Shootout women's bracket
2012-13 RMAC Shootout men's bracket
DURANGO, Colo. — Fort Lewis College continues play in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout women's and men's basketball tournament tomorrow night.
The fourth-seeded Skyhawk women (18-9 overall) travel to Grand Junction, Colo., where they'll meet the nation's No. 4-ranked team and top-seeded Colorado Mesa (26-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Brownson Arena in Grand Junction, Colo. The Mavs won the RMAC regular season title and swept FLC in the regular season: a 77-62 win in Whalen Gymnasium on Dec. 16 and a 76-68 victory in Grand Junction last Saturday.
The third-seeded Fort Lewis men (20-6) — ranked No. 22 in the latest NABC Division II poll — will face second-seeded Adams State (20-7) at 5 p.m. Friday at the Auraria Event Center on the Metro State campus. The Grizzlies swept the Skyhawks during the regular season, mounting a furious rally to beat FLC 82-76 in Durango on Dec. 8 while staving off a Skyhawk comeback on Feb. 2 in Alamosa to win 76-68.
RMAC Shootout championship games are scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Colorado Mesa (women) and Metro State (men).
Semifinal games will be broadcast live on KIUP (930 AM) and at
www.radiodurango.com/listen_live.html. The regular FLC basketball announcing crew of Ken Flint and John Francis will handle the men's games, while Associate Director of Athletics
Lynne Andrew and former FLC intern Matt Potter will call the women's games. Should both teams win on Friday, then one of Saturday's games will be carried live on KIUP (930) and the other on KRSJ (100.5 FM).
In the other men's semifinal, top-seeded Metro State (25-2), ranked No. 4 in Tuesday's NABC Division II poll, hosts sixth-seeded Colorado Mesa (18-9) at 7 p.m. Friday.
In the other women's semifinal, second-seeded Metro State (20-9) and sixth-seeded Colorado Christian (17-10) square off at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Brownson Arena.
Fort Lewis' men's and women's teams will meet up with familiar foes in the RMAC semifinals.
The Mavericks lead the all-time series 35-29 since FLC began keeping women's basketball records during the 1982-83 season. Strangely, the two have only met twice in the postseason, with each school picking up an NAIA District VII playoff win on its home court (Mesa State won 91-75 on Feb. 27, 1990, while Fort Lewis triumphed 57-56 on Feb. 28, 1986). None of the current FLC players were born the last time the two met in the postseason.
Fort Lewis leads the all-time men's basketball series with the Grizzlies 60-48. The Skyhawks are 2-0 all-time against ASU in the RMAC playoffs, including a 77-73 overtime win last Feb. 28 at Plachy Hall in Alamosa and an 80-56 win on February 25, 1986 in Whalen Gymnasium. The two schools also met three times in NAIA District VII playoffs in the 1980s and 1990s, with the then-ASC Indians beating the former FLC Raiders twice.
Tournament web pages with media links to live stats and video have been set up by the respective sports information departments at Colorado Mesa and Metro State. To visit the women's tournament page, go to
http://www.cmumavericks.com/sports/2013/3/6/WBB_0306131530.aspx. To see the men's tournament page, go to
http://www.gometrostate.com/sports/2013/2/20/MBB_0220131110.aspx.
The women's and men's RMAC Shootout champions will earn automatic berths to the NCAA Division II playoffs, as will champions of the Lone Star and Heartland conference tourneys. Other teams will have to wait for the NCAA selection committee to determine their fate. The Skyhawk men are currently ranked No. 7 in the South Central Region, while the women are ranked No. 8, placing them squarely on the NCAA playoff bubble.
The FLC women have gone dancing six times in the NCAA playoffs, including five straight years from 2007-08 through 2011-12. The 2009-10 'Hawks advanced to the NCAA Division II national championship game.
The Skyhawk men have played in March Madness seven times since 2001-02, most recently in 2010-11, when they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history.
