Fort Lewis College Athletics

MBB Ranking Graphic, Sekou Dembele - Jan. 2, 2024

Men’s basketball moves up to No. 10/24 in first national poll of the new year

1/2/2024 2:49:00 PM

By: Hayden Mangan, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

DURANGO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team has advanced to No. 10 on the first 2024 edition of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll while remaining at No. 24 on the Division II College Sports Communicators Top 25 Media Poll.

Fort Lewis heads into the new year with a 9-1 record on the back of a nine-game winning streak including an unblemished 5-0 record against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference competition.

The Skyhawks picked up all five conference wins in December spanning three weeks. In addition, FLC downed its league foes by an average of 25 points thanks to a red-hot 92.6 points per game offensively while limiting opponents to 67.6 points per game and 41.3 percent (114-276) shooting from the field.

Head coach Bob Pietrack's squad has been elite on both sides of the ball this season averaging an RMAC-best 85.1 points offensively and league second-best 66.1 points defensively for a commanding 17.0 margin. Additionally, each mark is good for 35^th, 52^nd, and 11^th nationally.

While the Skyhawks have always boasted a high-octane offense with plenty of firepower, this season's defense has been the calling card. On a national level FLC is 17^th in turnovers forced per game (18.20), 10^th in turnover margin (6.3), and 27^th in steals per game (9.6).

Fort Lewis remains the highest RMAC institution on the NABC poll with Colorado Mesa (9-2, 5-0 RMAC) in tow at No. 14. Colorado School of Mines (10-3, 5-1 RMAC) still receives votes.

Angelo State (10-1, 5-0 Lone Star Conference) – the Skyhawks' only loss thus far in the season-opener – trails closely behind at No. 11 while Eastern New Mexico (8-2, 4-0 LSC) is the first team out and receiving votes with the Greyhounds only two losses of the season coming at the hands of the Skyhawks.

Fort Lewis takes on Navajo Technical University (0-6) at home tonight at 5:00 p.m. inside Whalen Gymnasium.

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