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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Riley Farris dunk 11.15
Peyton Rutkowski
FLC redshirt junior Riley Farris dunks during Friday's victory over Northern New Mexico College.
69
Northern N.M. NNMU 0-1
92
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 3-0,0-0 RMAC
Northern N.M. NNMU
0-1
69
Final
92
Fort Lewis FLC
3-0,0-0 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Northern N.M. NNMU 35 34 69
Fort Lewis FLC 48 44 92

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

FLC men improve to 3-0 with 92-69 victory in Nike N7 game against Northern New Mexico College

DURANGO, Colorado — The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team led wire-to-wire Friday evening, capping off a Nike N7 Games sweep for the Skyhawks basketball teams with a surgical 92-69 victory over Northern New Mexico College.

Fort Lewis (3-0 overall) shot a sizzling 55% from the field (35-of-64) and cashed in 12-of-22 attempts (55%) from 3-point range. The hot shooting helped the Skyhawks storm out to a 33-13 lead just 11 minutes into the first half before the visiting Eagles, a NAIA program, was able to find its footing.

Northern New Mexico was able to string a handful of runs together, climbing back within nine at 50-41 with 17:35 remaining, but the Skyhawks were able to snuff out any would-be comeback attempts.

"We think Northern New Mexico is a good ballclub. They played very hard, are very well coached so it was a good victory for us," said Fort Lewis head men's basketball coach, Bob Pietrack. "I think people get confused when they hear NAIA and don't think a team is up to par, but that's a good team. We tip our hats to their effort because they could have easily folded early."

Leading the way for the Skyhawks on Friday was the guard-forward duo of freshman Akuel Kot and redshirt junior Riley Farris.

Kot, playing mature beyond his years, recorded his first 20-point game as a collegiate player as he posted 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while Farris also tallied 23 posted and added a season-high 11 rebounds for his first double-double of 2019-2020.

"They're All-League players and both have been very consistent," Pietrack said of Kot and Farris. "When you're going from being a good player to a great player, the consistency is what matters most."

Farris, who was limited to six games a year ago due to injury, has been a model of consistency to start the year, scoring 21 or more points in all three games so far this season while shooting an even 60% from the floor.

"The team gives me so much confidence when I'm out there and I feed off them so much, their energy and what they bring to the table," Farris said. "This team has come a long way since August. It's awesome to see us all out there and I think that's what is driving me to be (playing) so well right now."

Junior small forward Will Wittman added 10 points for the Skyhawks, supplying the highlight of the night with an ally-oop off a feed from fellow junior Cesar Molina, and senior guard Danny Garrick was the fourth FLC player in double-figures with 14 points.

Garrick shot 4-of-8 from 3-point range and added four assists and four rebounds in his 31 minutes.

The lone blemish for the Skyhawks Friday evening was some inconsistency on the defensive end of the floor as the visiting Eagles were able to hang around thanks to a 41% shooting night (29-of-70) and 16 offensive rebounds.

"I told the guys in the locker room that we're very talented, offensively, as the three 90-point games in a row would indicate, but we have to do a better job of finishing games, defensively, and rebounding the ball" Pietrack said. "We're a work in progress when it comes to that."

Fort Lewis will now turn its attention toward a talented Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University team that pushed Adams State University to the brink earlier in the day on Friday, eventually falling 79-73 to the Grizzlies.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside Whalen Gymnasium.

"Embry-Riddle is a very structured team that is well coached. The thing we noticed from the game (against Adams State), and it's a compliment to Embry-Riddle, is how much those kids care about each other and their program," Pietrack said. "They were up 14 with eight minutes to go and just couldn't finish the game. We're looking forward to playing (Saturday) night. We need to get better at playing back-to-backs and playing against structured teams. We look forward to the game and we want to finish the Fort Lewis College Classic out right."
 
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