Fort Lewis FLC 25-2,20-1 RMAC

MSU Denver MSUD 18-9,12-9 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC

25-2,20-1 RMAC

Final

Mar. 01, 2024

MSU Denver MSUD

18-9,12-9 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Fort Lewis FLC	46	48	94
MSU Denver MSUD	42	49	91

Summary
Box Score

Hayden Mangan, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

Tristan Hurdle (4) pulls up for a mid-range jumper as he scored a season-high 17 points against the Roadrunners at MSU Denver on Friday, Mar. 1, 2024.

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 3/1/2024 11:16:00 PM

No. 2 Skyhawks withstand Roadrunners 94-91, look to contend for RMAC Regular Season Championship

Fort Lewis to play for program's first-ever back-to-back championship tomorrow

DENVER, Colo. – It was a pound-for-pound slugfest Friday night in a rowdy Auraria Event Center, but faced with a Roadrunners squad that withstood every punch, No. 2-ranked Fort Lewis dug down deep and turned to none other than its captain Junior Garbrah who forced in a pair of critical layups and the final two free throws down the stretch to earn his team a 94-91 victory in the Skyhawks' penultimate game for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship.

Fort Lewis rises to 25-2 overall and captures the winningest regular season record in program history while simultaneously tying the program record for wins in the regular season set just last year. Additionally, the Skyhawks move to 20-1 in league play to capture the winningest conference record in program history.

The Skyhawks just edged the Roadrunners in shooting from the floor at 55.7 percent (34-61) to 53.2 percent (33-62) and in rebounding at 32-31, however, it was FLC converting on 18 of its 23 free-throw attempts (78.3 percent) against MSUD's 16 made shots on 22 attempts (72.7 percent) that gave Fort Lewis the final edge.

Malik Whitaker, who went on to guide the Skyhawks offensively with 19 points on 7-11 shooting (63.6 percent) including a 3-3 clip from beyond the arc, buried a three-pointer on the wing to put Fort Lewis up 5-0 in the early minutes. MSU Denver wouldn't flinch, however, and after a huge slam by Mario Lacy Jr. to get on the board, went on to take a 19-16 lead on a trey from Caden Holmes.

After retaking the lead on a Whitaker trey and a layup from Sekou Dembele, Fort Lewis would not trail again in the first half despite two ties and ran into the locker room with a 46-42 advantage thanks to an Isaiah Thompson layup. Out of the half, the Roadrunners forced a tie game at 48-48 and followed it up with a pair of lead changes including a 52-51 edge on a monstrous slam from Lacy Jr.

Jhei-R Jones then drove to the bucket at the 16:54 minute mark for the layup and what would be the final lead change of the night. The Skyhawks, leading by single digits for almost the entire ball game, found its only double-digit lead of the night at 8:37 when Dembele picked up an offensive rebound and put it back up for the score.

After Lacy Jr. put MSU Denver just one possession away from tying the game with 30 seconds left, Caleb McGill rocked the rim to pull within one, 92-91, with nine seconds left. Garbrah then took the inbounds pass and made both free throws to secure the victory.

Tristian Hurdle provided a season-high 17 points on 7-8 shooting including a 3-4 mark from the three-point line while Obi Agbim added another 14 points and Garbrah 11 more to round out the Skyhawks to finish in double-figures scoring.

McGill was the main man for MSU Denver as the six-foot-eight forward scored a game-high 22 points on 10-11 shooting while four other Roadrunners finished in double-figures including Luke Jones (17), Lacy Jr. (13), KJ Garrett (12), and Holmes (10).

Quotable
"Tonight was an outstanding college basketball game. Two really great teams playing a regional-caliber game, I thought MSU Denver prepared very well, and these road games in the RMAC are as difficult as any game. I thought our seniors were outstanding, all three of them, and Hurdle really played a great game; it speaks to the depth of our team and the importance of each individual player."

Notables
-Fort Lewis now trails MSU Denver 36-24 in the all-time series and trails the Roadrunners 18-7 in the Auraria Event Center.
-The Skyhawks have now tied the program record for 25 wins through the regular season while also setting a new program record of 20 wins through conference play.
-Tristan Hurdle scored a season-high 17 points on a near-perfect 7-8 shooting including 3-4 from beyond the arc.
-Malik Whitaker has now scored at least 11 or more points in each of his last four games and has scored in double figures in eight of his last 11 games.
-Fort Lewis is now 24-0 when at least three Skyhawks score in double-figures.
-The Skyhawks are now 19-0 when scoring at least 80 points.

One More
Tomorrow night, Saturday, Mar. 2, Fort Lewis will head into Lockridge Arena in Golden, Colo., for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off against No. 16-ranked Colorado School of Mines (22-7, 16-5 RMAC) and play for the program's first-ever back-to-back RMAC Regular Season Championship.

FLC Basketball Get Together
In addition, tomorrow, Saturday, Mar. 2, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., Fort Lewis College Athletics and the Fort Lewis College Alumni Association are hosting a pre-game basketball get-together at The Golden Mill. Mingle with fellow alumni, friends, donors, and fans, and enjoy food and drinks in beautiful Golden, Colo., before heading over to Lockridge Arena to catch the final men's and women's basketball games of the season. Fans can purchase their tickets HERE.

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