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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Will Wittman 2.23
Peyton Rutkowski
FLC junior Will Wittman scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds on Saturday.
87
Winner Western Colo. WC 12-14,9-11 RMAC
83
Fort Lewis FLC 13-14,7-14 RMAC
Winner
Western Colo. WC
12-14,9-11 RMAC
87
Final
83
Fort Lewis FLC
13-14,7-14 RMAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Colo. WC 46 41 87
Fort Lewis FLC 41 42 83

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

Five players score double-figures, but Skyhawks unable to upend Mountaineers in home finale

DURANGO, Colorado — The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team concluded the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, falling by a tight 87-83 final on Senior Night inside Whalen Gymnasium to the visiting Western Colorado University Mountaineers.

As has been the case for the Skyhawks (13-14 overall, 7-14 RMAC) during a tough month of February, the team placed itself in position to take home a victory, but was unable to close the door on a talented WCU team (13-14 overall, 10-11 RMAC) that has now won five straight and fighting for a berth in the RMAC Tournament.

"I credit Western. They made the shots down the stretch that won the game," said FLC head coach, Bob Pietrack. "Those were some really tough threes that they stuck. Our guys are fighting hard, but we're a little snakebite by the three and it showed up again tonight."

Western Colorado finished 13-of-28 behind the 3-point arc Saturday, led by trio of Matthew Ragsdale (17 points, 3-5 3PT FG), Cole Sienknecht (15 points, 3-6 3PT FG) and Will Willis, who scored a game-high 24 points and was 5-of-7 from deep.

In the first meeting between the two teams — an 88-74 victory for the Skyhawks back on Jan. 17 — the Mountaineers were a pedestrian 9-of-24 (38%) from 3-point range while FLC was 13-of-24 (54%).

"We didn't make as many threes and then them being 13-of-28 rally flips the script," said Pietrack when asked about the difference in the two matchups. "I thought we rebounded the ball well and took care of it for the most part. But we knew we had to keep them under 10 threes. If you do, you win. If you don't, you lose."

Fort Lewis was able to stay with WCU thanks to a breakout performance from redshirt sophomore Brenden Boatwright, who erupted for a season-high 18 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting.

Boatwright's 21 minutes were the most since he played 23 in a victory over Eastern New Mexico on Nov. 10 as he filled in exceptionally while redshirt junior Riley Farris battled foul trouble.

"Boat was really strong tonight, a really good rebounder, made his free throws and Hokanson found him on a bunch of nice plays," Pietrack said. "He's just a young buck still and is going to continue to keep growing."

Farris followed with 16 points in just 14 minutes, while junior guard Will Wittman scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, and the guard tandem of Akuel Kot and Logan Hokanson each added 10 points to round out the five FLC players in double figures.

Hokanson dished out seven assists from the point guard spot, and junior forward Corey Seng added a final line of nine points and seven rebounds to help pace the Skyhawks.

FLC battled back from multiple nine-point deficits in the second half to take a lead as late as 71-70 on a Boatwright layup with 6:15 remaining.
The Skyhawks, facing an 85-83 deficit in the final seconds, worked a clear look for Farris from 3-point range with seven ticks remaining, but his potential go-ahead jumper fell just short, allowing the Mountaineers to salt the game away at the free-throw line.

It was a tough end to the home schedule for the Skyhawks, who honored their lone senior Danny Garrick prior to tip-off Saturday.

"Anytime you recruit a player, when it's all over, you asked yourself if you'd do it again and we'd do it again with Danny," Pietrack said. "He's been a very valuable member of our team, think he's been a good leader to the younger kids. Just wish it could have been a better (year) for him."

The Skyhawks will now turn their attention toward their regular season finale against nearby rival Adams State University, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday in Alamosa.

"I expect our program to come to work Monday and work hard all week," Pietrack said. "I expect us to play well next Friday and we're just going to keep going. It is what it is at this point. In all of these last eight games, we've been right there and it could have gone either way and we just haven't had it. I wish I knew the reasoning and why it is happening. But I will say this; there's a line in coaching that says 'Losing is defeating.' And although we've lost some games now, I definitely don't think our spirit as a team is broken and our guys are fighting really hard. We'll see if we can get a taste of victory one last time before the year is over and get back to even on the season."
 
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