Black Hills St. BHSU 27-5,18-4 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC 29-4,19-3 RMAC

Black Hills St. BHSU

27-5,18-4 RMAC

Final

Mar. 12, 2023

Fort Lewis FLC

29-4,19-3 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Black Hills St. BHSU	40	41	81
Fort Lewis FLC	32	34	66

Summary
Box Score

Hayden Mangan, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

JaQuaylon "Q" Mays (10) using the left hand as he drives to the basket.

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 3/12/2023 6:09:00 PM | Hayden Mangan, Athletic Communications Assistant

Skyhawks fall to No. 21/T20 Yellow Jackets in South-Central Regional Semifinals

CANYON, Texas – Senior Brenden Boatwright went off for 14 points and 11 rebounds while JaQuaylon Mays scored 17 points and Akuel Kot another 14 but shooting struggles at the free throw line and a rebounding differential of 42-32 was too tall of a task as the seventh-ranked Fort Lewis College men's basketball team finally fell to 21^st-ranked Black Hills State University 81-66 in the South-Central Regional Semifinals.

Fort Lewis ends the season 29-4, capping off a historic season setting records in single-season program wins with 29, regular season wins with 25, and a road record of 10-1. Black Hills State advances to 27-5 and will face the winner of Angelo State University (26-6) and West Texas A&M University (26-6) in the regional championship on Tuesday.

After winning the tip-off, Dunnell Stafford knocked down the first four points of the contest on a mid-range jump shot with a pair of free throws to follow on the next possession. Momentum swung, however, as Joel Scott and PJ Hayes knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to score eight unanswered points and put Black Hills State ahead, 8-4.

The Yellow Jackets continued to attack offensively, keeping the Skyhawks on their heels and finding open lanes to the basket as well as open shots on the perimeter. Hayes knocked down his second trey in a row as the BHSU made five of its seven opening threes to find the double-digit lead, 28-17. While the Yellow Jackets were able to push the lead out to as many as 13 on a pull-up jumper from Ryker Cisarik, the Skyhawks finally strung together a string of possessions to trail 40-32 heading into the locker room.

The Skyhawks continued to struggle in the second half, knocking down just nine free throws among 16 total attempts in the second half alone. Fort Lewis was able to cut the deficit to as little as seven on multiple occasions, but Black Hills State limited the Skyhawks to quick, contested shots that would not fall.

Scott led Black Hills State and all players in the contest with a monstrous 23-point and 19-rebound double-double. Boatwright capped off his five-year career with Fort Lewis with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double of his own.

While both sides finished under 65.0% from the free-throw line, the Yellow Jackets out-shot the Skyhawks 47.5% to 43.6% from the field and limited FLC to just 2-13 from beyond the arc. Additionally, Black Hills State out-rebounded Fort Lewis 42-32.

NOTABLES
-Fort Lewis finishes the season with programs in total wins with 29, regular season wins with 25, a road record of 10-1.
-The Skyhawks finished the season 5-3 against National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 teams.
-Fort Lewis graduates four seniors from this season's roster: Dunnell Stafford, JaQuaylon Mays, Brendan La Rose, and Brenden Boatwright.
-For the third time in program history this season, the Skyhawks captured at least a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season title as well as the RMAC Tournament Championship.
-Junior Akuel Kot set new program records this season in single-season total points scored with 801, single-game scoring with 45 points against the University of Texas Permian Basin, second in single-season points per game at 24.3, first in single-season made free throws with 226, third in single-season free throw attempts with 267, second in single-season field goal attempts with 482, ties Riley Farris (2019-20) in single-season made field goals with 249, and now ranks fifth in all-time career scoring with 1,712 points.
-Brenden Boatwright finishes his time with Fort Lewis ranked 16^th in all-time career points scored with 1,194 and 11^th in all-time career rebounds with 588.

NEXT STEPS
With the 2022-23 season now in the books, Fort Lewis will look ahead to another offseason in preparation to build off of this season's momentum. A plethora of postseason awards have yet to be announced so be sure to stay up to date on GoSkyhawks.com

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