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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Riley Farris 12.8.20
Peyton Rutkowski
FLC senior Riley Farris lead all scorers with 24 points in Tuesday's 87-65 victory against Western Colorado (File Photo)
87
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 2-0,1-0 RMAC
65
Western Colo. WC 0-2,0-1 RMAC
Winner
Fort Lewis FLC
2-0,1-0 RMAC
87
Final
65
Western Colo. WC
0-2,0-1 RMAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Fort Lewis FLC 41 46 87
Western Colo. WC 30 35 65

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

FLC men's basketball sweep back-to-back against Western Colorado following Tuesday's 87-65 road win

GUNNISON, Colorado — There's not much that head men's basketball coach Bob Pietrack hasn't seen during his tenure on the Fort Lewis College bench.

Playing against the same RMAC opponent twice in a four-day period checked that box.

After Fort Lewis defeated Western Colorado University by an 89-69 final last Saturday in a non-conference bout — a late schedule addition due to Covid-19 related postponements— Round Two switched to Gunnison on Tuesday, with the Skyhawks downing the Mountaineers, 87-65, to move to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC standings.

"It's fun for the coaches a little bit because you can do some tweaks and different things," said Pietrack of the back-to-back with the Mountaineers. "But for the guys, to be honest, right now it doesn't matter who we play. We're trying to prove to ourselves that we're a good team. We're going to play as hard as we can, play hard for each other, and try to get some respect back for our program after last year."

The Skyhawks wasted little time picking up where they left off last Saturday, jumping out to an 8-2 lead by the first media timeout and building a 20-4 advantage over WCU by the midway point of the first half.

"We wanted to make sure that they knew we weren't going to come in here with the attitude that we were just going to win the game. We had to come here and play like it was a championship game," Pietrack said. "I thought we did that for the most part and credit Western for how hard they battled. They have a very good program over there, as well."

For the second game in a row, Fort Lewis was anchored by a strong defensive effort as it held the Mountaineers to 33.8% (22-of-65) shooting and a 7-for-18 (39.9%) mark from behind the 3-point line.

The Skyhawks would own a 41-30 lead at the break and built their lead to as many as 24 in the second half, leading wire-to-wire for all 40 minutes.

"We hit our goals, defensively. Before the game we talked about keeping them under 70 points, under 10 3-pointers made and making them shoot a low percentage," Pietrack said. "We did all those things (Tuesday). Now we just need to carry our defensive momentum forward."

Fort Lewis was just as polished on the offensive end of the floor, shooting 50.8% (30-of-59) from the field Tuesday while sinking nine 3-pointers (9-of-19) and getting to the free-throw line 25 times (18-of-25).

Senior forward Riley Farris led all scorers with 24 points in 25 minutes on 7-of-11 shooting. He added seven rebounds and three assists while cashing in 3-of-4 opportunities from the 3-point line that helped get him going early.

"We got Riley loose on the 3-point line a little bit and anytime Western made a little bit of a run, Riley answered it," Pietrack said. "That's what a senior All-American is supposed to do. Anytime they got close, he just jabbed them back."

The Skyhawks also received a ton of production from the guard position as sophomores Dunnell Stafford and Akuel Kot continued to shine in their roles off the bench, adding 15 points and 10 points, respectively.

Redshirt junior point guard Cesar Molina was the third Skyhawk in double-figures with 12 points, while fellow guards Corey Seng (nine points, four rebounds) and senior Will Wittman (six points, eight rebounds) all helped carry the scoring load.

"We've talked about it as a team that we don't have starters, we're just playing basketball. Dunnell and Akuel are obviously starting caliber players. But they are filling a role for our team," Pietrack said. "Everyone is bought in and we're completely together on it. That's what is making it so fun to coach."

The team's depth and buy-in was evident at the 1:01 mark of the second half when redshirt freshman Jackson Stapleton splashed home a 3-pointer from the left wing for his first collegiate points, putting the bow on the 87-65 victory.

"Everyone on our team is very valuable. Not everybody plays the same, obviously, but they are valuable. That's something I learned from Coach (Bob) Hofman a long time ago," Pietrack said. "When someone like Jackson makes that shot, makes that memory, and everybody is happy for him, that speaks volumes about where our team chemistry is."

Fort Lewis will look to keep the momentum rolling when it heads back on the road Saturday for a 5 p.m. clash against Colorado Christian University.

The Skyhawks and Cougars split the season series in 2019-20, with FLC earning a 96-87 home win and falling 92-87 in Lakewood.

"All the RMAC road games are brutally hard and we've lost two years in a row there," Pietrack said. "Our kids know it, so we're looking forward to going out there and hopefully the third time is the charm."
 
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