UPCOMING GAMES
No. 5 seed Fort Lewis College will face No. 4 seed Tarleton State Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at Lockridge Arena in Golden, Colo. in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball South Central Regional Tournament.  No. 1 seed and host school Colorado School of Mines will play No. 8 seed University of Arkansas-Fort Smith at 5 p.m.
 
The winner of each game will face off in the semi-final game on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.  The South Central Regional Tournament Championship game will be played on Tuesday, March 14 at 7 p.m.
 
NOTES
The Skyhawks enter the NCAA Tournament with 25-6 overall record.  FLC earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament after defeating Colorado Christian University Friday (93-85) and suffering an overtime loss in the RMAC Championship Saturday night in Golden, Colo. against the No. 1 seeded Orediggers (102-98).
 
Alex Semadeni scored a career high and a team high 21 points after making a career best 10 field goals on 16 attempts.  He added six rebounds and a career high six assists while matching a career high three steals against the Cougars on Friday.
 
Rasmus Bach matched a career high with a game high 29 points against the Orediggers.  Bach made 11-of-21 field goals and 4-of-7 from long range. Blaylock added 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
 
Bach and Blaylock were named to the 2017 RMAC Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team. Bach averaged 18.7 points per game and Blaylock averaged 24 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game over the three games played in the tournament.
 
After going 2-1 last week in the RMAC Championship Tournament, Fort Lewis dropped from No. 21 to No. 23 in the final National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II poll.
 
The Skyhawks were ranked in the NABC top 25 poll in 15 of the 16 weeks this season.  FLC's highest ranking of the season was No. 11 on Feb. 14.  This is the first time in program history the Skyhawks finished back-to-back seasons ranked in the NABC Top 25 poll.
 
This is the Skyhawks 10th appearance in the NCAA post-season tournament.  They are 3-9 all-time in the NCAA post-season. FLC has lost in the first round six times (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009), made it to the second round twice (2013 & 2016), and reached the regional final once (2011).
 
The Skyhawks have won at least 20 games the past three seasons (2016-17: 24 wins, 2015-16: 28 wins, 2014-15: 20 wins), marking only the second time in program history with three straight 20-win seasons (2008-09: 24 wins, 2007-08: 24 wins, 2006-07: 22 wins).
 
This is the first time in program history FLC has recorded back-to-back 25-game winning seasons.  FLC won a record best 28 games last season (28-4).  The Skyhawks currently own a 25-6 record.
 
FLC has shot at least 50 percent from the floor in 19 games this season.  Their best shooting performance this season was 65.5 percent on Jan. 14 at home against South Dakota Mines (W, 98-75).  Their worst shooting mark this season was an 82-94 overtime home setback on Feb. 17 against Colorado School of Mines (39.7 percent).
 
From three-point range, the Skyhawks have registered a 50 percent mark from behind the arc in eight games this season, and they have shot at least 40 percent from downtown 20 times.
 
The Skyhawks have scored at least 90 points in 16 games this season.  Conversely, they have only allowed at least 90 points in six games; four of which were overtime games.
 
FLC is 2-2 in overtime games.
 
Joshua Blaylock took home the RMAC Player of the Year award. The 6-foot-2 senior guard from Lancaster, Calif. has started all 31 games this season and led the league in points per game (20.6) and minutes per game (35.3). The RMAC Preseason Player of the Year also led the league with 101 made three pointers on the season, fourth in three point field goal percentage (46.3), and sixth in free-throw percentage (85.7). Blaylock also earned First Team All-RMAC honors.
 
Rasmus Bach also earned First Team All-RMAC honors. The 2014 Freshman of the Year is fifth in the RMAC in scoring averaging 18.5 points per game while shooting at a 55.5 percent clip from the court. The 6-foot-4 guard has started in all 31 games this season and averaged 6.0 rebounds per game. Bach was also selected to the RMAC All-Academic First Team.
 
Riley Farris was name Co-Freshman of the Year this season after averaging 8.7 points per game on 56.2 percent shooting while primarily coming off the bench for the Skyhawks. Farris has appeared in 28 games this season and started three games on the year.
 
Will Morse was an Honorable Mention this season after leading the RMAC in assists per game (5.4) and assist to turnover ratio (141-44). The senior guard from Austin, Texas has scored 8.2 points per game and started all 26 games he appeared in.
 
Brandon Wilson is averaging 7.6 rebounds per game, which is third in the league.
 
Alex Semadeni leads the league in field goal percentage shooting 68.4 percent from the field (108-of-158).
 
The Skyhawks have the league's best scoring offense (90.0 per game), field goal percentage (51.7 percent), three-point field goal percentage (42.4 percent), and assists (17.1 average).
 
SCOUTING THE TEXANS
Tarleton State University has won the last two South Central Regional Tournaments, and have won an LSC-record four regional titles in program history.  This is their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
 
The Texans enter the matchup with a 22-7 record on the season, with a 2-1 record in neutral site games. Tarleton State is led in scoring by junior guard Ridell Camidge who is averaging 14.7 points per game on the season. Camidge also leads the team with 78 made three point field goals. Romond Jenkins is averaging a double-double on the season with 12.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.
 
The Texans are averaging 80.4 points per game on the season while only giving up 66.6 points on defense. The plus 13.8 scoring margin is first in the Lonestar Conference. Tarleton State averages 40.3 rebounds per game with 13.7 per game coming on the offensive glass.
 
HEAD COACH BOB PIETRACK
In his second year at the helm, Bob Pietrack owns a 53-10 overall record (84.1 percent).  He is 30-1 (96.8 percent) in the last two seasons at Whalen Gymnasium, and 37-7 (84.1 percent) in league games.
 
In his first year as head coach, he was named the 2015-16 RMAC Coach of the Year, becoming only the second coach in league history to win the award in his first year as head coach.

Pietrack was also named the 2015-16 NABC South Central Region Coach of the Year after leading his team to the RMAC regular season and tournament championship titles.  The Skyhawks set school records for most wins in a season (28-4), most RMAC wins (19-3), most consecutive wins (16) and most wins at home (17-0).  He was named a finalist for the Red Auerbach National Coach of the Year and NABC Division II Coach of the Year awards.

FLC qualified for the 2016 NCAA South Central Regional tournament as the No. 2 seed.  After being nationally ranked in the NABC poll for 11 straight weeks (school record five straight weeks in the Top 10), the Skyhawks finished the season ranked No. 4 in the final NABC poll, the highest ranking in school history.

Pietrack was named Interim Head Coach in June 2015, beginning his 13th season in 2016-17 as part of the Skyhawks coaching staff.  He served under men's basketball head coach Bob Hofman for 11 years.
 
He was promoted to associate head coach after completing his 100th game with the program in January 2008.  He joined the Skyhawks coaching staff in the summer of 2004.

Heading into the 2016-17 season, Pietrack has helped guide the Skyhawks to a 253-104 (.709) overall record in the past 12 years. During this time, Fort Lewis won four straight RMAC West Division Championships (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08), six berths into the NCAA Division II tournament (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016), three RMAC Shootout championships (2008, 2011, 2016) and three RMAC regular season title (2004-05, 2007-08, 2015-16).

Pietrack helped lead the Skyhawks to the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history during the 2011-12 season, and again in 2015-16.

Prior to his coaching career Pietrack played four years for the Skyhawks under Hofman. Pietrack was a member of two RMAC West Division championship teams (2001-02, 2002-03) and played in two NCAA tournaments (2001-02, 2002-03). A two-time RMAC All-Academic honoree, Pietrack was a team captain and team MVP in 2003-04.