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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Tyler Kinghorn 12.19
Peyton Rutkowski
FLC junior Tyler Kinghorn scored 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting in Saturday's 79-73 loss to No. 5 Colorado School of Mines (File Photo)
73
Fort Lewis FLMB 2-2, 1-2 RMAC
79
Winner Colo. School of Mines CSM 6-0, 5-0 RMAC
Fort Lewis FLMB
2-2, 1-2 RMAC
73
Final
79
Colo. School of Mines CSM
6-0, 5-0 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Fort Lewis FLMB 31 42 73
Colo. School of Mines CSM 32 47 79

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

Skyhawks' upset bid of No. 5 Colorado School of Mines falls just shy

GOLDEN, Colorado — The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team and Colorado School of Mines added an instant classic to the rivalry on Saturday night in a game that featured 11 ties and 21 lead changes.

Unfortunately for the Skyhawks, their upset bid of the No. 5 ranked Orediggers came up just shy as they fell 79-73 on the road to close out the fall semester.

The 73 points for FLC (2-2 overall, 1-2 RMAC) on 44.4% shooting (24-of-54) are the most Colorado School of Mines (6-0 overall, 5-0 RMAC) has allowed so far this season after it entered the evening as the No. 1 defense in NCAA Division II at 50.2 points allowed per game.

"We were proud of our team's effort and felt like we had a chance to win the game, but came up just short," said FLC head men's basketball coach, Bob Pietrack. "Two minutes remaining, we had a couple shots not go in and they had a couple shots go in. That's just basketball. They have a very good team over there and so do we."

Fort Lewis held the lead as late as 69-68 when senior guard Will Wittman curled off a screen and just a runner in the lane to drop with 3:16 remaining. The Orediggers answered back the ensuing possession, though, on a mid-range jumper from Ben Boone that sparked a quick 7-0 burst by CSM to go up 75-69 at the 1:06 mark.

Brendan Sullivan made three free throws during that stretch and finished with a game-high 31 points to pace the nationally ranked Orediggers.

The Skyhawks were led by their First Team All-RMAC forward Riley Farris with 22 points, which included a 12-of-13 mark from the free-throw line. Farris filled the stat sheet, adding six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Wittman tallied 11 points, while redshirt junior forward Brenden Boatwright (13 points) and junior guard Tyler Kinghorn (11 points) each set season highs to round out the FLC players in double-figures.

Boatwright shined in his first start of the season, grabbing six rebounds and adding two blocked shots in his 20 minutes as the Skyhawks opted to go with size to start the evening.

"We need (Boatwright's) physicality and toughness. We've been toying with the thought of going double bigs for a long time, but the opponents we played early didn't allow us to even experiment with it because they were just smaller teams," Pietrack said. "We were happy with the way it looked and we'll keep working on it. But Brenden needs to play because he is part of the fabric of our program and we have a lot of faith in him."

As for Kinghorn, the transfer Billings, Montana made the most of his opportunity coming off the bench as he was a spotless 4-for-4 from the field, which included a pair of three-point play opportunities he cashed in late in the second half; the last giving FLC a 65-63 lead with 5:40 remaining.

"Any time you get transfers, it takes them awhile to settle in. We tried to rush Tyler, starting him the first couple of games. We didn't start him (Saturday) and just let him take a breath," Pietrack said. "He really responded well. He's a good player and we're thankful to have him."

While being on the wrong end of a great college basketball game was not what the Skyhawks envisioned Saturday, the performance will be a building block for the team heading into the holiday break.

"We'll build off this. Our program is proud of our effort. Obviously, we want to win the game and there are no moral victories in college basketball. But with that said, it is incredibly important we highlight the positives," Pietrack said. "And there were a ton of positives. We think we have a lot of potential to keep getting better."

Following a 14-day layoff between games with the holiday break, the Skyhawks will get the chance to play a RMAC home game for the first time this season at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 3 against South Dakota School of Mines.

It'll be the first of a three-game home stand for FLC to try and get 2021 off on the right foot.

"We've learned a lot since last Saturday and I think our team is growing. The sky is the limit in the second semester," Pietrack said. "We're very much together, we're battle tested and we've played all our league games on the road so far. Now we get to come home for three games after this break and we're excited to get back to Durango and play in Whalen Gymnasium."
 
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