Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Pietrack 100 wins 12.13
Maureen Pasley, FLC Athletics
Fort Lewis head men's basketball coach Bob Pietrack (center) eclipsed 100 career wins on Friday. (File photo)
77
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 8-1,2-1 RMAC
73
South Dakota Mines SDSMT 3-7,0-4 RMAC
Winner
Fort Lewis FLC
8-1,2-1 RMAC
77
Final
73
South Dakota Mines SDSMT
3-7,0-4 RMAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Fort Lewis FLC 34 43 77
South Dakota Mines SDSMT 34 39 73

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

Skyhawks edge Hardrockers, Pietrack earns 100th career win

RAPID CITY, South Dakota — Milestones and RMAC road wins are two achievements that rarely come easy. The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team was able to cross both off the list Friday evening in its first road game of 2019-2020, scratching out a 77-73 win over South Dakota School of Mines.

The win for Fort Lewis (8-1 overall, 2-1 RMAC) also marked the 100th career victory for head coach Bob Pietrack, who boasts a 100-35 overall record and sits fourth on the FLC all-time wins list on the heels of Jim Cross (113 wins) following Friday's nail biter.

"I'm really thankful for all the players we've had. We've had wonderful players over the time I've been here and I'm very grateful I was able to get a great education on how to coach for 11 years by coach Bob Hofman," said Pietrack, who became the fastest coach in FLC history to eclipse 100 wins. "And to be able to share this moment with coach (Daniel) Steffensen, because we've each grown up coaching together, is special in that regard. But just like with this league, you can't enjoy things for too long because the next game, next challenge comes right at you tomorrow night."

South Dakota Mines (3-7 overall, 0-4 RMAC) pushed FLC to the brink, jumping out to a 10-0 lead to begin the game and owning a lead as late as 65-64 with 3:45 remaining.

The Skyhawks responded with three key 3-pointers cashed in by senior Danny Garrick, redshirt junior forward Riley Farris and junior point guard Logan Hokanson.

Garrick's trey came at the 4:01 mark to tie the game at 64-64 before Farris and Hokanson sunk back-to-back 3-pointers at the 3:34 mark and 2:53 mark, respectively, to give FLC a 70-65 cushion.

Farris led all Skyhawks with 20 points, four rebound and four assists — his ninth straight game with 20 or more points — while Garrick had 14 points and Hokanson scored a season-high 12.

"I thought the big difference in the game were those three 3-pointers we hit in the last five minutes," Pietrack said. "We got down three and Garrick hit a bomb. Then the ones back-to-back from Farris and Hokanson were critical before we were able to ice the game at the free-throw line."

The charity stripe was a major bullet point in Friday's showdown as FLC finished 17-of-22 (77%), while the Hardrockers were a dismal 9-of-22 (40%), including 5-of-13 (38%) in the second half.

Fort Lewis also received a big lift from junior guard Will Wittman, who scored 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting and added six rebounds, one shy of the team-high seven from his backcourt mate Hokanson. Sophomore forward Brendan La Rose added six points, four rebounds and a blocked shot in his 16 minutes, as well.

"Will Wittman and Brendan La Rose were primetime tonight," Pietrack stated. "Those guys played excellent."

The Skyhawks will now look to rest up and prepare for their first road back-to-back of the season with a 6 p.m. tip-off on Saturday against Black Hills State University (4-5 overall, 2-2 RMAC).

"These road trips are tough and I don't know if there is a magic potion or not, but you have to keep your team spirit up," Pietrack said of tomorrow's second night of the road back-to-back. "I always think that if you make a few shots, you get energy. We'll get the boys some rest and be strategic about how much we do tomorrow at shoot around. We'll be mentally prepared to play. Then you roll the ball out and see what happens."
Print Friendly Version