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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Will Wittman 11.14
David Wilson, FLC Athletics
FLC senior Will Wittman finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds on Sunday against Angelo State.
98
Winner Angelo St. ASU 2-0,0-0 Lone Star
87
Fort Lewis FLC 1-1,0-0 RMAC
Winner
Angelo St. ASU
2-0,0-0 Lone Star
98
Final
87
Fort Lewis FLC
1-1,0-0 RMAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Angelo St. ASU 46 52 98
Fort Lewis FLC 35 52 87

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

Skyhawks edged 98-87 by Angelo State to conclude RMAC-LSC Conference Challenge

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team played its second nail-biter in as many days Sunday during the final day of the RMAC-Lonestar Conference Challenge. Unfortunately for the Skyhawks, they came up just shy in a 98-87 shootout against Angelo State University inside the basketball mecca that is The Pit in Albuquerque.

Fort Lewis (1-1 overall) and Angelo State (2-0 overall) each shot 58% from the floor on Saturday, with the Skyhawks going 29-of-50 and the Rams finishing 34-of-59, respectively. The difference came at the 3-point line where the Rams were a sizzling 13-of-26 (50%).

The Skyhawks were a serviceable 7-of-16 from deep (43.8%), but the amount of makes from the Rams, who shot just 5-of-20 from 3-point range in its Saturday win over New Mexico Highlands, proved to be the separator.

"Angelo State is a very good team, a regional contender. We wanted to force them to take long shots, not let them get into the paint, and I thought we did a good job of making them take tough shots," said FLC head men's basketball coach, Bob Pietrack. "But they made those tough shots and that's just part of the game."

The two regional powers battled back-and-forth early, with the Skyhawks taking their largest lead of the game at 19-14 at the 12:06 mark of the first half. Redshirt junior forward Brenden Boatwright led the charge, scoring 11 of his team-high 19 points.

Angelo State roared back, taking advantage of 12 first-half turnovers and early foul trouble for the Skyhawks, to take a 46-35 lead into the break.
"The turnovers, and us getting into a little bit of foul trouble in that first half, that really flipped the first half because we had some guys sitting for awhile," Pietrack said.

Fort Lewis responded to the adversity in the second half, erasing the 11-point deficit to take its first lead of the half at 75-74 on a corner 3-pointer by senior forward Riley Farris with 7:19 remaining.

Unfortunately for FLC, Rams' guard Devaughn Thomas — 4-for-4 from 3-point range — answered with a trey the ensuing possession, sparking an 8-0 run by Angelo State to retake an 82-75 lead with 5:35 remaining. The Skyhawks were unable to inch any closer than four points the rest of the way.

"Farris makes that three to give us the lead, and the next time down Thomas makes a three. If that shot is a miss, it could change the whole game," Pietrack said. "I thought did a great job of fighting to get back into it. (Angelo State) just made a lot of shots."

Fort Lewis finished with five players in double-figures, led by Boatwright's 19 points. Junior guard Dunnell Stafford poured in 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Farris followed with 13 points, while senior guards Will Wittman and Corey Seng tallied 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
Senior guard JacQuess Hobbs and sophomore guard Akuel Kot each added nine points apiece, as well, giving FLC seven rotational players with nine or more points.

"We leave this Conference Challenge feeling very positive. There are a lot of positives we're seeing with our basketball team," Pietrack said. "We're not satisfied with a split, we'd have liked to take both games, but our team is starting to take shape on what it is going to look like in a few weeks when we go off to Chadron State to start RMAC play."

The Skyhawks will now turn their attention toward their home opener this week, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17 inside Whalen Gymnasium. FLC will play another home game, the Nike N7 Game, at 3 p.m. Sunday against Northern New Mexico College.

Those two contests will mark the first home games with fans in attendance for the Skyhawks since February 22, 2020.

"You only get one chance to make a first impression, we'll make sure to tell the guys that, because the home opener every year is special," Pietrack said. "Especially this season, since we didn't have fans in the gym last year, it's really like the first home opener in two years. We look forward to getting home and look forward to introducing our team to so many who care about the program. We have a really good basketball team and we're optimistic about what we can do this year."
 
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