Box Score LAKEWOOD, Colorado — The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team was unable to dig out of an early hole Friday night out in Lakewood, falling by a 92-87 final on the road to Colorado Christian University.

Fort Lewis (13-9 overall, 7-9 RMAC) fell into an early 17-point hole at 28-11 with 11:11 remaining in the first half as the Cougars (3-18 overall, 3-12 RMAC) got off to an 11-of-15 start from the field, forcing the Skyhawks battle uphill over the final 30 minutes.

"Bottom line is we didn't guard well enough to win and haven't guarded well enough to win," said Fort Lewis head coach, Bob Pietrack. "Until we're able to hold teams to reasonable margins, it's going to be hard to win a game."

The Skyhawks were able to whittle the deficit down to just five and head into the halftime locker rooms down just 45-40, courtesy of a 22-point, first-half outburst by redshirt junior Riley Farris.

Farris paced all players with 31 points on 12-of-21 shooting to go with a team-high eight rebounds. He was joined in double-figures by junior point guard Logan Hokanson with 13 points and five assists, as well as freshman guard Akuel Kot with 11 points.

A 3-pointer from Farris at the 3:18 mark of the second half had the Skyhawks all the way back within two at 83-81, but Colorado Christian answered back immediately with a trey of its own from Luke Martin the ensuing possession to go back ahead five at 86-81.

"It was tough," Pietrack said of Martin's 3-pointer. "It came down to a couple of possessions game and we didn't guard well or make the big defensive stops you need to win on the road."

FLC was back within one possession again at the 2:28 mark after redshirt sophomore Brenden Boatwright canned two free throws. A potential game-tying 3-pointer from Danny Garrick the next FLC possession rattled in-and-out, though, and CCU countered with a quick 4-0 burst to put the game out of reach.

As a team, FLC shot 47% (29-of-62) from the field on Friday and dominated the second-chance points, 13-2. But the Skyhawks were not able to overcome a sizzling 34-of-58 (59%) shooting night for the Cougars, who finished with six different players in double-figures.

The Skyhawks will now turn their attention toward a 5 p.m. matchup against Regis University on Saturday. It'll be a pivotal matchup for FLC as the team chases the eighth and final RMAC playoff spot with six regular season games remaining.

"You play for the love of the game, play for the love of your school and play for the love of your program," said Pietrack about the message to the team heading into Saturday's bout with the Rangers. "Every game is important and we just need to play well. That's what I care most about; us playing well."