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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Riley Farris 11.17
Angela Roberts, FLC Athletic Communications
Senior forward Riley Farris scored a game-high 23 points and dished out four assists in Wednesday's win over the University of the Southwest.
64
Southwest (NM) SW 0-2
85
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 2-1,0-0 RMAC
Southwest (NM) SW
0-2
64
Final
85
Fort Lewis FLC
2-1,0-0 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southwest (NM) SW 39 25 64
Fort Lewis FLC 41 44 85

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

Skyhawks roll to 85-64 win in home opener against University of the Southwest

DURANGO, Colo. — The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team return to Whalen Gymnasium on Wednesday to play in front of home fans for the first time in 634 days, after the 2020-21 season was played in empty gymnasiums due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Chants of 'Defense' rang through the arena like the fans never left, helping propel the Skyhawks on a second-half run and 85-64 drubbing of the University of the Southwest Eagles.
"It's just so fun to play at home, regardless of who we're playing, because Whalen has always been a special building for our guys and for me, especially," said FLC head men's basketball coach, Bob Pietrack, who moved into sole possession of third place in all-time wins (114) in FLC men's basketball history. "It was great to see it alive again because last year it just wasn't alive. Tonight, it was alive and I hope as the season goes, the momentum for the crowds just keeps building and building."

Fort Lewis (2-1 overall) got off to a bit of a sluggish start on Wednesday, owning a narrow 41-39 lead over a Mustangs team (2-3 overall) featuring three Division II transfers of their own in the starting lineup.

The University of the Southwest shot 47% (15-of-32) in the game's opening 20 minutes, but had the clamps put on by the FLC defense in the second half as the Skyhawks limited the Mustangs to 27% shooting from the field (7-of-26), including 2-of-8 (25%) from the 3-point line.

"I thought there was a touch of us wanting to play so well that you don't (in the first half). Our group, they care so much, that sometimes you can want something too much. It's like holding an egg," Pietrack said. "We just needed to settle down and I told them at halftime, 'Guys, just take a deep breath.' And to Southwest's credit, they made some shots and their athleticism off the bounce hurt us a little bit in the first half. But once got our roots planted in the game, we were in good shape."

Fort Lewis opened the second half on an 11-0 scoring run, kick started by seven straight points from senior forward Riley Farris, who poured in a game-high 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting; 15 of those points coming in the second half.

Farris added a team-high four assists versus one turnover and three rebounds while finishing a +27 in his 27 minutes.

"The big emphasis in the huddle coming out for the second half was to see if I could get going and quiet the run (the Mustangs) were on in the first half. And we came out extremely well, defensively," Farris said.

Joining in Farris with double-figures on Wednesday was sophomore guard Akuel Kot with 12 points, including a pair of back-to-back triples that brought the student section to its feet and bumped FLC's lead to 60-43 with 13:52 remaining.

Senior guard Will Wittman, who entered the ballgame shooting a blistering 73% from the field in the early going, kept up his high efficiency, scoring 10 points on just 5-of-7 shooting while tying forward Brenden Boatwright for the team lead with six rebounds.

Junior forward Brendan La Rose and senior Corey Seng each chipped in nine points apiece, and senior guard JacQuess Hobbs tallied eight points in his first home game as a Skyhawk, to pace the FLC offense.

Hobbs and fellow guard Dunnell Stafford were the catalyst on the defensive end for FLC, shutting down the Mustangs' dribble penetration that plagued the Skyhawks early on.
As a team, the Skyhawks finished the night at 51% (29-of-57) from the field and 21-of-28 from the free-throw line, while finishing with 16 assists and just eight turnovers; only two turnovers coming in the second half.

Fort Lewis will look to build off Wednesday's victory when it continues a mini two-game home stand at 3 p.m. Sunday against Northern New Mexico College. Sunday marks the return of the Nike N7 Games on the FLC campus, celebrating Native American Heritage Month.

"The focus for Sunday is the Nike N7 Games and they are such important games for Fort Lewis College considering our Native American traditions that we honor and respect, so we're looking forward to that and the festivities that go along with that," Pietrack said. "Also, we're looking forward to the fact that we're going to have our women's team play before us. In Division II basketball, we're so use to the women playing before us and the atmosphere be there. We're looking forward to watching Coach (Taylor) Harris's team before us and getting use to playing after them and having the whole crowd going."
 
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