Colo. Sch. of Mines CSM 18-4,12-2 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC 18-2,13-1 RMAC

Colo. Sch. of Mines CSM

18-4,12-2 RMAC

Final

Feb. 02, 2024

Fort Lewis FLC

18-2,13-1 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Colo. Sch. of Mines CSM	22	41	63
Fort Lewis FLC	35	38	73

Summary
Box Score

Kaitlyn Silva

Obi Agbim (5) scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting including 3-of-7 from downtown.

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/2/2024 10:51:00 PM | Hayden Mangan, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

Defensive effort lifts No. 4 Skyhawks past No. 10 Orediggers

Fort Lewis wins sixth straight, moves to 11-0 at home

DURANGO, Colo. – Although Top 10 matchups have seemingly become a staple in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference over recent years, one thing remains true: they always live up to the hype.

Fort Lewis men's basketball (18-2, 13-1 RMAC) put on a show in front of its largest crowd of the season of 2,481 Friday night in a booming Whalen Gymnasium against Colorado School of Mines (18-4, 12-2 RMAC) as the Skyhawks defensive effort stymied the Orediggers to 22 first-half points and 22 forced turnovers, resulting in a 73-63 victory and keeping FLC in a tie for first place atop the league's standings.

Mines saw its 14-game win streak come to an end as Fort Lewis moves to 2-0 against Top 10 opponents, 2-1 against Top 25 opponents, and earns its third win across its last four matchups with the Orediggers; all of which have been contests between Top 15 teams.

The Skyhawks allowed just one lead change on the night: a 4-3 Mines advantage on a Majok Deng layup on CSM's third shot attempt of the night. Deng, who entered the night as Mines' leading scorer averaging 15.6 points a game, finished with just five points, three rebounds, and an assist.

FLC forced 17 of its 22 turnovers in the opening half resulting in a 15-point Skyhawks lead on a gutsy layup from Isaiah Thompson in the low post. In addition, Mines was 8-21 (38.1 percent) from the field through the first 20 minutes including 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Out of the half, and with a thunderous student section at its back, Fort Lewis knocked down seven of its next nine shot attempts to build its largest lead of the night at 23 points. From then on, the Orediggers strung together several defensive stops and offensive runs but could not claw any closer than eight points on two occasions, last on a Sam Beskind trey with 19 seconds left in the game.

Obi Agbim went for a game-high 20 points while dishing out three assists and making a block and a steal. Jhei-R Jones added 12 points and Malik Whitaker 11 more, both on 4-of-7 shooting, while Whitaker was 3-of-5 from downtown with team highs in rebounds with six and steals with three alongside Samier Kinsler.

Mines' Markus Pastorcic-Straun led the Orediggers with 13 points, nine of which came in the second half. Cade Mankle scored another 11 points, primarily on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc, to round out the Orediggers with double-figure scoring.

Fort Lewis dominated down low out-scoring Mines 42-22 on points in the paint while trailing 25-26 in total rebounds. In addition, the Skyhawks scored 22 points off of turnovers to the Orediggers' 12 while also exploding off the bench for 44 points to CSM's 30.

Quotables
On tonight's performance against No. 10 Mines:
"Great win for our program, I thought our players played their tails off all night long. Credit Colorado School of Mines, obviously a championship-caliber team and program that has won 14 in a row. We got them with a pretty good punch, and they came all the way back, so credit them. But make no mistake about it, we played tonight in a manner that we would beat a lot of teams. Win or lose on Friday night, it's about Saturday night, so we simply turn the page as a group." – Head Coach Bob Pietrack

On playing with a chip on your shoulder:
"Every game we play with a chip on our shoulder, no matter what environment it is or where it's at. We have to approach every game like it's our last." Junior guard Obi Agbim

On the atmosphere in Whalen Gymnasium:
"Honestly it was amazing, it felt like a championship-caliber game. I can't stress enough, thank you to the students and fans that pop up at every game, it's amazing." – Agbim

"It makes a big difference. When you have a crowd like that behind you, the energy, especially with the way we play, that's like having another player out there. We've got to keep having them, a lot of home games to go." – Pietrack

Notables
-The Skyhawks have won two straight games over Mines to lead the all-time series 59-38 including 27-16 at home. In addition, FLC has won three of the last four matchups in which both programs have been ranked inside the Top 15 on the National Association of Basketball Coaches national poll.
-Fort Lewis snaps the Orediggers' 14-game winning streak – the third-longest active streak across NCAA DI, DII, and DII – eight-game road win streak, all while handing CSM its first loss since Dec. 1, 2023.
-The Skyhawks have won six straight games and 12 straight at home dating back to the opening round of the RMAC Tournament last year.
-FLC is now 17-0 when at least three Skyhawks score in double figures.
-Obi Agbim's 20-point performance tonight is his fourth outing of the season with 20 or more points.
-The Skyhawks have shot above 52.7 percent from the field in each of its last five games, the longest said stretch since 2016-17.
-With his 16th point of the night, Obi Agbim surpassed 1,000 career collegiate points.

Tough One Tomorrow
There's no time to celebrate, however, as the Skyhawks must prepare to face a daunting MSU Denver (13-6, 7-6 RMAC) Roadrunners team that has won two straight and owns a win over the nation's current No. 1 West Texas A&M (19-1, 13-0 LSC). FLC and MSUD will tip off at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night in Whalen Gymnasium.

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