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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Akuel Kot 12.7
David Wilson, FLC Athletics
FLC sophomore guard Akuel Kot scored a season-high 24 points in Tuesday's win over Western Colorado (File Photo)
68
Western Colo. WC 1-8,0-3 RMAC
87
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 6-3,2-1 RMAC
Western Colo. WC
1-8,0-3 RMAC
68
Final
87
Fort Lewis FLC
6-3,2-1 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Colo. WC 30 38 68
Fort Lewis FLC 35 52 87

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

Kot tallies a season-high 24 points, Skyhawks start home stand with 87-68 win over Western Colorado

DURANGO, Colo. — The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team bounced back in a big way Tuesday, shaking off a tough road loss on Saturday by opening a four-game home stand with an 87-68 victory over Western Colorado University.

"Credit to Western Colorado, having to play three road games in five days is difficult, but I thought they fought us hard all night. We have a lot of respect for Western Colorado," said FLC head men's basketball coach, Bob Pietrack. "I'm incredibly proud of our team for how we fought (Tuesday). It didn't go well early, but being able to bounce back from the game Saturday (83-81 loss to Black Hills State); you'd have had to been there to understand the pain in the locker room and how bad we wanted the ballgame. I really love the character of our team."

Fort Lewis (6-3 overall) scuffled a bit out of the gate, trailing the Mountaineers (1-8 overall, 0-3 RMAC) by a 16-9 margin with 8:02 remaining in the first half before sophomore guard Akuel Kot exploded for 15 of his 17 first-half points over the final 7:20 of the half to help the Skyhawks take a 35-30 lead into the locker rooms.

Kot finished with a season-high 24 points; just two shy of his career-high of 26 against CSU Pueblo that ironically enough came two years ago to the day on Dec. 7, 2019. He shot an economic 8-of-15 from the floor, 3-of-8 from 3-point distance while being a menace on the defensive end of the floor with season highs in blocks (2), steals (3) and minutes played (35).

"Here's a guy who has been here three years and has played in a lot of big ballgames. The stage will never be too big for him," Pietrack said of Kot, who was a team-best +25 in plus/minus. "He was really cooking there for a little bit."

Senior forward Riley Farris, who averaged 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds against the Mountaineers last year, continued his torrid play against the RMAC rival as he poured in a game-high 28 points — 20 points coming in the second half — while grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Redshirt junior forward Brenden Boatwright was the third Skyhawk in double-figures with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting as FLC chewed up the Western Colorado interior defense for 46 points in the paint.

Defensively, senior guard Corey Seng shined in his primetime matchup against Western Colorado sophomore guard, Matthew Ragsdale, who entered Tuesday's game second in the RMAC in scoring at 22.9 points per game and fresh off a school-record 53 points scored last Friday against Black Hills State.

Seng held the Mountaineer's dynamic guard to just 15 points, including just nine points over the game's final 36 minutes, on 6-of-13 shooting and four turnovers. The FLC senior added three assists and two steals while finishing the ballgame a +22 in plus/minus.

"Corey is one of the most unselfish players to ever play here. To have that role and excel in it is exemplary of everything Corey does," Pietrack said. "There's a senior that is desperate to win basketball games and will do anything it takes. And tonight, what it took, was basically blanketing Ragsdale for 33 minutes."

As a team, Fort Lewis shot right at its season average of 50% from the floor (32-of-64), limiting its turnovers to just 10, while holding the Mountaineers to 40% shooting (22-of-55) and forcing 19 turnovers. The Skyhawks' defense also held WCU in check from 3-point distance as the Mountaineers finished a mere 5-of-17 (29%).

Fort Lewis will look to build off the victory when it resumes the four-game home stand this Saturday against a solid Colorado Christian University program that has won the last two matchups against the Skyhawks, both played out in Lakewood.

"CCU beat us last year and that was a loss that stung us pretty good. They have three outstanding guards, so we'll have our hands full," Pietrack said. "We're thankful to be at home and thankful the game is on Saturday, not Friday. Every RMAC game, whether you play at home, on the road, a neutral floor, or you could play the thing on Mars, it doesn't matter; the intensity of an RMAC game is very high and it will be high again on Saturday."
 
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