Fort Lewis FLC 10-1,4-1 RMAC

Westminster (UT) WC-UT 3-9,2-3 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC

10-1,4-1 RMAC

Final

Dec. 17, 2022

Westminster (UT) WC-UT

3-9,2-3 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Fort Lewis FLC	31	48	79
Westminster (UT) WC-UT	41	52	93

Summary
Box Score

JoJo Lutz, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

Junior Garbrah (3) maintaining possession through contact.

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 12/17/2022 7:31:00 PM | Hayden Mangan, Athletic Communications Assistant

Sharp-shooting Griffins hand Skyhawks first loss of the season

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah. – A slow start for the Skyhawks handed Westminster College the early lead and unable to mount a comeback, the Griffins handed the Fort Lewis College men's basketball team its first loss of the season by a score of 93-79 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game Saturday night.

Fort Lewis takes its first loss of the season and falls to 10-1 overall and 4-1 in RMAC contests. Westminster nabs its third win of the year and advances to 3-9 overall and 2-3 in RMAC play.

"Road games in the RMAC are extremely difficult and Westminster played phenomenal," Fort Lewis College Head Coach Bob Pietrack said. "Tonight just wasn't our night collectively. We didn't play very well in multiple aspects both offensively and defensively. Credit to Westminster for making a ton of difficult shots tonight, especially down the stretch when we started to claw our way back. Overall I'm still proud of our team, and now we just have to get back to Whalen Gymnasium and prepare for four important home games."

The Skyhawks got off to a slow start offensively shooting just 36 percent from the floor and 23 percent from the three-point line. The Griffins got hot quickly, jumping out to an early 12-point lead midway through the first half on a three-point jump shot from Jeremy Dowdell 23-11.

Westminster continued to attack the basket, leading by as many as 16 points shooting 53 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc to secure a ten-point halftime lead of 41-31.

Fort Lewis found life early in the second half as shots began to fall for the Skyhawks. Continuing to be out-shot by the Griffins, JaQuaylon Mays finally had Fort Lewis within one, 61-60, after a three-point jump shot from the top of the arc.

It was downhill from there as Westminster buried a pair of three-point shots alongside a layup from Taylor Miller to extend the lead back out to twelve and pin the Skyhawks down 83-71 with just over two minutes remaining. Fort Lewis finally fell, unable to cut the lead down any closer than nine points.

Mays led all scorers on the night with 24 points aided by Akuel Kot with 19 points, Obi Agbim with 16, and Brenden Boatwright with 12. The Griffins finished with five players scoring in double figures led by Trey Farrer with 17 points and seven rebounds.

Westminster out-shot the Skyhawks across the night 56.1 percent to 42.9 percent from the field, 57.9 percent to 35.1 percent from beyond the arc, and both sides finished an even 75 percent from the charity stripe. Additionally, the Griffins dominated Fort Lewis off of the bench 40 points to 21 and on points in the paint 34 to 26. Westminster held the edge in total rebounds 35-30.

NOTABLES
-JaQuaylon Mays set season highs tonight in both total points (24) and minutes played (37).
-Tonight's loss snaps a four-game winning streak for the Skyhawks.
-Fort Lewis sets a new program record with 10 wins in a row to begin a season. The ten-game winning streak was one of just five in program history and the latest since 2016-17.

NEXT UP
Fort Lewis will look to right the ship back at home just before the new year, hosting South Dakota Mines and No. 5/4 Black Hills State for a pair of RMAC contests. First up on the docket are the Hardrockers on Friday, Dec. 30, at 5:00 p.m.

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