Fort Lewis FLC 23-2,17-2 RMAC

Black Hills St. BHSU 22-3,16-3 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC

23-2,17-2 RMAC

Final

Feb. 17, 2023

Black Hills St. BHSU

22-3,16-3 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Fort Lewis FLC	32	44	76
Black Hills St. BHSU	39	29	68

Summary
Box Score

JoJo Lutz, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

JaQuaylon Mays (10) driving to the basket.

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/17/2023 9:55:00 PM | Hayden Mangan, Athletic Communications Assistant

Mays leads No. 9/11 Fort Lewis to second straight win over No. 2/3 Black Hills State

DURANGO, Colo. – JaQuaylon Mays shook his defender, sinking a step-back trey followed by the and-one free-throw to guide the tenth-ranked Fort Lewis College men's basketball team back from a 13-point deficit to defeat second-ranked Black Hills State University 76-68 in a packed Donald E. Young Center on Friday night.

The Skyhawks now stand at 23-2 overall and 17-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play to take sole possession of first place in the conference rankings. The Yellow Jackets take their second straight loss, falling to 22-3 overall and 16-3 in conference contests.

"Sure, we made a few tough shots in the end, but our defense those final ten minutes is what won us the game tonight," Fort Lewis College Head Coach Bob Pietrack stated. "This is an all-time win for us. Not very often do you get to play the No. 2 team in the country on the road and add in the fact we also had to play them back-to-back. I'm really proud of our guys and the grit they showed tonight. Tonight was special, but we've got no time to enjoy it as we hit the road and prepare for [South Dakota Mines] tomorrow night."

Fort Lewis opened the contest with the early advantage, taking a 7-2 lead on a pair of free throws from Akuel Kot. The Yellow Jackets responded with momentum, going on a nine-point offensive run capped off with a three-point jump shot from Adam Moussa for the 16-7 lead.

From then on Black Hills State maintained a nearly double-digit lead for the remainder of the opening half, stretching the gap out to as many as 13 points thanks to a mid-range jump shot from Moussa. While the Skyhawks began to close the gap, Joel Scott converted one of his two free throws at the line to score the final bucket of the half and give BHSU a 39-32 lead at halftime.

Timely defense and a series of missed shots by the Yellow Jackets allowed Fort Lewis to close the gap early in the second half, even tying the game at 45-45 on a trey from Mays near the top of the arc. Black Hills State continued to pound the post, and a Scott layup with 7:53 left in the contest put BHSU back on top, 62-51.

As time dwindled Fort Lewis slowly chipped away at the Yellow Jackets lead, but with 4:23 remaining Matthew Ragsdale found the basket underneath after spinning off of his defender for the five-point lead, 68-63. Mays responded with a quick layup of his own to cut the deficit to three.

On the following possession, Mays found nothing but net on a step-back trey while also drawing the foul from Ragsdale. Mays would convert the and-one free-throw, giving Fort Lewis the final lead change of the night, 69-68.

With 2:20 left on the clock, the Skyhawks would not allow Black Hills State to score another point while adding a few insurance points of its own to take down the second-ranked Yellow Jackets for the second-straight game, 76-68.

Mays led the Skyhawks tonight in both total points with 26 and total rebounds with nine while also nabbing two steals. Kot supplied an additional 21 points while leading Fort Lewis with four steals, and Dunnell Stafford added 10 points of his own to round out the double-figures for FLC.

NOTABLES
-JaQuaylon Mays' 26 points tonight sets a new season-high with Fort Lewis.
-The Skyhawks are now 10-2 when being out-shot from the field by the opposition.
-Fort Lewis is now 3-0 against NABC Top-5 ranked opponents overall and 2-0 while playing on the road. The Skyhawks are also 3-1 overall this season against NABC Top-25 ranked opponents.
-The Skyhawks have now secured both of the program's only wins over NABC Top-10 ranked opponents on the road in the same season. (Last at No. 5/6 Colorado School of Mines back on Jan. 27, 2023, 93-87)
-Fort Lewis now takes sole possession of first place atop the RMAC standings.

NEXT UP
Fort Lewis will get no rest this evening as the Skyhawks head on the road to Rapid City, South Dakota, for round two against South Dakota Mines (9-16, 8-11 RMAC) tomorrow, Feb. 18. Tip-off against the Hardrockers is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

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