UPCOMING GAMES
The 15
th-ranked Fort Lewis College men's basketball team will open their season on the road this weekend. The Skyhawks will face West Texas A&M University on Friday, followed by a neutral site game against Eastern New Mexico University on Saturday.
NOTES
For the first time in program history, the men's basketball team is ranked in the National Association Basketball Coaches preseason poll. The Skyhawks enter the season ranked No. 15.
The Skyhawks finished last season ranked No. 4 in the final NABC poll that was released on March 8, 2016, the highest ranking the men's basketball program has ever received.
FLC was picked No. 2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason poll, and No. 16 in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll.
Fort Lewis finished the 2015-16 campaign with a school record 28 wins (28-4), most wins in a regular season (24), and 17 straight wins at home. FLC currently has the longest home winning streak in NCAA Division II with 19 wins, dating back to the 2014-15 season.
The Skyhawks return two starters from last year's conference championship team –
Joshua Blaylock and
Will Morse. Six other letterwinners also return from the 2015-16 campaign –
Rasmus Bach,
Ross Buchman,
Kaleb Cobb,
Kain Lucero,
Alex Semadeni, and
Kane Martinez.
SCOUTING THE BUFFALOES
West Texas A&M University has three games under their belt after playing in the CCA Division II Tipoff Classic. The Buffs went 3-0 after defeating Azusa Pacific, St. Cloud State and No. 23 Arkansas-Fort Smith. West Texas was picked to finish fourth in the LSC preseason coaches' poll. The Buffs finished in a three-way tie last season in the regular season standings with a 9-5 LSC record (21-10 overall).
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
Eastern New Mexico is coming off a 6-21, 2-12 LSC campaign in 2015-16. The Greyhounds lost both of their leading scorers from last season – John Gilliam (16.0 ppg) and Lawrence Domingo (11.8 ppg) but have four seniors on this year's roster.
UP NEXT
The Skyhawks will open their home season Nov. 18-19 against Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and NAIA Northern New Mexico College.
