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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Cesar Molina 1.30
Peyton Rutkowski
FLC redshirt junior Cesar Molina scored a career-high 22 points in Saturday's victory over Westminster.
78
Westminster (UT) WC-UT 5-6,5-6 RMAC
81
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 3-4,2-4 RMAC
Westminster (UT) WC-UT
5-6,5-6 RMAC
78
Final
81
Fort Lewis FLC
3-4,2-4 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Westminster (UT) WC-UT 35 43 78
Fort Lewis FLC 39 42 81

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

Molina's career-high 22, clutch free throws lift Skyhawks to 81-78 win over Westminster

DURANGO, Colorado — The streak of nail-biters continued for the Fort Lewis College men's basketball team on Saturday, playing in its first back-to-back of the 2021 season and fifth straight game decided by six points or less.

The tide turned Saturday against the visiting Westminster College Griffins as the Skyhawks gutted out an 81-78 victory inside Whalen Gymnasium.

"Our team really needed that win and that's the best way to put it," said FLC head men's basketball coach Bob Pietrack, who's team pulled off the victory without the services of First Team All-RMAC center Riley Farris out for the weekend. "Our backs were firmly against the wall after the way we'd lost the last two games after Christmas beak. Those are gut-wrenching losses, so I'm just extremely proud of our program to be able to come back after last night's game."

Less than 24 hours earlier, the Skyhawks (3-4 overall, 2-4 RMAC) had No. 6 Colorado Mesa on the ropes in overtime and came up just shy of knocking off the Mavericks, 74-72.

FLC showed the same grit and determination Saturday against the Griffins (5-6 overall, 5-6 RMAC) and were willed to a victory behind a career night for redshirt junior point guard Cesar Molina.

Molina poured in 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting — his previous career-high being 14 points against Haskell back on Nov. 21, 2018 —including a spotless 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. None bigger than the three free throws Molina splashed with 32 seconds remaining, helping the Skyhawks erase a one-point deficit and take a 77-75 lead.

"I was very thankful I got fouled. I saw the (defender) coming at me so I was thinking about pump-faking and driving it, but I think I made the right decision," said a grinning Molina about his decision to hoist the corner 3-pointer. "We work hard in practice and focus on free throws. It's just about being self-confident in what you do."

The FLC defense forced a stop the ensuing Griffins possession and cashed in its final four free throws over the final nine seconds to put the bow on an 81-78 final.

Redshirt junior forward Brenden Boatwright shined again in his start at center, finishing with 12 points and six rebounds, while senior guard Will Wittman and sophomore forward Brendan La Rose each added 13 points and were major spark plugs in the first half.

La Rose and Wittman combined for 16 points through the game's first 20 minutes. Trailing 28-18, Wittman slammed home an alley-oop pass from senior Corey Seng that kick started an 11-2 run for the Skyhawks en route to building a 39-35 lead heading into the break.

Seng finished just 1-for-6 shooting, but was a team-best plus-18 in the box score as he added five rebounds, five assists and drawing seven fouls.

"If you look at Corey Seng (in the box score), you'll see 'Corey Seng, No. 20,' and then you can block out the rest of the line and it equals winner," Pietrack said. "That's why he plays as much as he does. He does everything. He does all the stuff that nobody really loves to do. He cuts, he guards the other team's best guard every night, he rebounds and he is a leader."

The Skyhawks will get a few days to rest and recover before they head off to Alamosa Wednesday for a make-up road game against Adams State University, scheduled for 3 p.m. inside Plachy Hall.

"Adams State is having a really good year. Coming into tonight, I think they were third in the RMAC standings. (Plachy Hall) is a tough place to play, a place that hasn't been overly friendly to us, the Griz Den," Pietrack said. "It's a good, clean rivalry with Adams and we look forward to playing Wednesday and hope we're all healthy for it."
 
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