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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Otas Iyekekpolor
Max DeHerrera/Sports Fanatic Photography
85
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 12-14, 7-13 RMAC
68
Colorado Mesa CMMB 17-9, 12-8 RMAC
Winner
Fort Lewis FLC
12-14, 7-13 RMAC
85
Final
68
Colorado Mesa CMMB
17-9, 12-8 RMAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Fort Lewis FLC 42 43 85
Colorado Mesa CMMB 35 33 68

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Brian Kortz

Men’s Basketball Dominates Mavericks to Complete Season Sweep

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Following a strong push to end the first half, the Fort Lewis College men's basketball team led the rest of the way on their way to cruising past Colorado Mesa 85-68 Friday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action inside Brownson Arena.

Holding just a one-point lead with five minutes to go before halftime, FLC (12-14, 7-13 RMAC) outscored Colorado Mesa (17-9, 12-8 RMAC) by six the rest of the half to take a seven-point lead into the break and never looked back. The Mavericks got no closer than six in the second half before the Skyhawks jumped the lead into double-digits and rolled to the victory.

Otas Iyekekpolor had a huge game scoring a career-high 23 points and also made it a double-double with 12 rebounds, along with an assist and a steal while shooting 9-13 from the field and 4-4 at the foul line. Marquel Beasley tallied 18 points on 7-11 shooting, Alex Semadeni recorded 15 points on 5-8 shooting and AJ Sparks gave the Skyhawks four in double-digits with 10 points.

It was a strong shooting night for FLC as they made 57 percent (31-54) from the field, 8-18 (44) from three and were a near perfect 15-16 (94) at the charity stripe.

Colorado Mesa came out strong jumping out to a five-point lead nearly two minutes in. Down two near the midway point of the first half, FLC unleashed a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the game when Brendan La Rose posted a dunk and Semadeni completed a three-point-play leaving the Skyhawks with a 18-15 lead.

The Mavericks answered with a 9-0 run to take a 24-18 lead. That ended up being the largest lead of the game for Colorado Mesa as FLC came back with an 11-0 run to hold the lead the rest of the way. Witt Wittman started the rally with a three-pointer and then a trey from Sparks tied the game at 24. The run continued with a jumper from Iyekekpolor and a three-pointer from Semadeni closed the run that had FLC looking at a 29-24 lead with 6:01 to play in the half.

The Skyhawks added two points to the lead taking a 42-35 lead into the locker rooms.

A Beasley jumper four minutes into the second half pushed the lead into double-digits at 54-43 and then Colorado Mesa made one last run pulling to within six at the 14:30 mark.

A 13-0 run for FLC followed to help the Skyhawks cruise to the victory. Brenden Boatwright started the run with a layup, Semadeni added a layup, Kireed Johnson hit a long ball, Iyekekpolor added two from the line and after Wittman hit a layup, Beasley closed the run with two from the line that had FLC with the 67-48 lead at the 10:26 mark.

The Skyhawks had the lead as high as 21 a few minutes later when Beasley hit a jumper for the 71-50 lead. FLC then rolled to the 85-68 final score.

FLC was even on points off turnovers (15-15) and were also even on points in the paint (34-34) and fastbreak points (22-22).

Connor Nichols led Colorado Mesa with 16 points, while Damon Dubots reached double-figures with 12 points. The Mavericks went 25-56 (45) from the field, 6-18 (33) from three and 12-15 (80) at the foul line.

FLC will remain on the road as they will travel to Gunnison to face Western Colorado tomorrow (Saturday) against Western Colorado starting at 7:30 p.m. The Mountaineers defeated Adams State in overtime, 87-86, earlier on Friday.
 
 
 
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