Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Brenden Boatwright 1.29
Lance Wendt, Courtesy Photo
FLC redshirt junior Brenden Boatwright led all Skyhawks with 16 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 74-72 overtime loss to #6 Colorado Mesa (File Photo).
74
Winner Colorado Mesa CMU 11-0,11-0 RMAC
72
Fort Lewis FLC 2-4,1-4 RMAC
Winner
Colorado Mesa CMU
11-0,11-0 RMAC
74
Final
72
Fort Lewis FLC
2-4,1-4 RMAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Colorado Mesa CMU 29 38 7 74
Fort Lewis FLC 34 33 5 72

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

Skyhawks go toe-to-toe with #6 Colorado Mesa in 74-72 overtime loss

DURANGO, Colorado — Playing for just the second time in the month of January due to Covid-19 related issues, and without First-Team All-RMAC center Riley Farris, the Fort Lewis College men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the nation Friday evening inside Whalen Gymnasium.

Fort Lewis played inspired. It played relentless. It played with heart. But the No. 6 ranked Colorado Mesa University Mavericks (11-0 overall, 11-0 RMAC) showed why they own the nation's longest active winning streak (13 games), escaping Durango with a 74-72 overtime victory.

It marked the second straight overtime defeat for the Skyhawks (2-4 overall, 1-4 RMAC), and fourth straight loss decided by six points or less for a FLC team showing its potential to play with the RMAC and nation's best.

"I'm really proud of our team for how hard they fought. (CMU) has a great team. Obviously, disappointed we didn't win the game, but awfully proud of the effort and the fight in our guys," said FLC head men's basketball coach, Bob Pietrack. "We preach in our program about the program being bigger than anybody. It's bigger than the players, it's bigger than the coaches. We fought hard for our program tonight. Just a little short, but feel we are moving in the right direction. These losses are hard, but one of the great things about athletics is you get to keep playing."

Behind a season-high 16 points and nine rebounds from redshirt junior Brenden Boatwright, the Skyhawks got off to a fast start, building a five-point lead at the half 34-29.

Boatwright scored eight first-half points, and senior guard Will Wittman put an exclamation point on the first 20-minutes of basketball with a dunk through traffic, then a blocked shot on the defensive end of the floor over the final 10 seconds to send the Skyhawks into the locker room with momentum.

"Will has become a staple and does a lot for us," said Pietrack of Wittman, who finished with a game-high 3 blocked shots and four rebounds whiling shooting 4-of-7 from the field. "He had some really nice plays and played great defense too."

FLC would build its lead to as many as 10 points in the second half at 57-47 with 10:43 remaining before the undefeated Mavericks made their run back, taking a 3-point lead at 65-62 at the 2:33 mark of regulation.

Sophomore guard Akuel Kot, who scored 15 points off the bench, drained a 3-pointer to tie the next possession and almost sent the Hawks home happy at the buzzer, but had his 30-footer draw front iron to send the teams to overtime at 67 all.

In overtime, Colorado Mesa grabbed a 73-71 lead with 1:14 remaining. The Skyhawks inched within one on a free-throw from Corey Seng and had the ball with a chance to go ahead in the final 13 seconds.

Kot drove right, with the option to finish at the rim or take a step-back jumper, but unfortunately had the ball deflect off his knee out of bounds as he drove to the basket with two seconds remaining.

"Akuel is a great player, it just didn't work out," Pietrack said. "A lot of good plays tonight from a lot of players. That one we'd like to have back, but we have a lot of confidence in Akuel. If we had to do it again, he was having a great game, very good off the dribble, and we would do it again."

Kot and Boatwright were joined in double-figures Friday by Wittman and redshirt junior guard Cesar Molina with 10 points apiece. Seng added eight points and sophomore Dunnell Stafford chipped in six points off the bench to pace a FLC offense that shot 42.9% (24-of-56) from the floor.

The one speed bump, offensively, for the Skyhawks came at the free-throw line, finishing the evening 20-of-29 (69%).

Defensively, FLC forced the Mavericks into 23 turnovers — tying their season-high — and kept CMU under the team goal of 70 points during regulation.

"Without Riley, we had to be tougher defensively because we weren't going to score as easy without him," Pietrack said. "I was really proud of our effort. Obviously, would like to win the game and we're incredibly disappointed. But it'd be hard for anybody sitting in my chair to fault the boys' effort and heart and willingness to fight for it."

The Skyhawks will now look to regroup as it gets ready to play its first back-to-back of the season with a 6 p.m. tip-off against Westminster College on Saturday.

"Westminster is a very good team, a great coach. This league is tough and a rough ocean. You get knocked down by a wave, you better get up pretty quick because the next wave is coming," Pietrack said.
 
Print Friendly Version