Fort Lewis FLC 25-3,20-2 RMAC

Colo. Sch. of Mines CSM 23-7,17-5 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC

25-3,20-2 RMAC

Final

Mar. 02, 2024

Colo. Sch. of Mines CSM

23-7,17-5 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Fort Lewis FLC	32	33	65
Colo. Sch. of Mines CSM	35	35	70

Summary
Box Score

Hayden Mangan, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

Obi Agbim (5) drives to the rim against No. 16 Colorado School of Mines in Lockridge Arena on Saturday, Mar. 2, 2024.

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 3/2/2024 10:29:00 PM | Hayden Mangan, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

No. 16 Orediggers down No. 2 Skyhawks in regular-season finale

Fort Lewis to host CSU Pueblo for quarterfinal round of RMAC Tournament

GOLDEN, Colo. – For the second consecutive season, the No. 16-ranked Colorado School of Mines Orediggers (23-7, 17-5 RMAC) defeated the No. 2-ranked Fort Lewis Skyhawks (25-3, 20-2 RMAC) in the regular season finale, 70-65. Fort Lewis, for the second straight year, finishes the regular season with a program record 25 wins and also set a new program record with 20 conference victories.

The Skyhawks have clinched the second seed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament and a first-round home game next Tuesday, Mar. 5, at 6:00 p.m. against seventh-seeded CSU Pueblo (14-14, 10-12 RMAC) inside of Whalen Gymnasium. Tickets are on sale now through the RMAC Ticketing site HERE. Members of the Skyhawks Club may still use their VIP passes to access hospitality, however, an admission ticket must still be purchased through the conference.

Mines, who turned the ball over 22 times and allowed Fort Lewis to shoot 52.7 percent (29-55) from the field back in Durango, Colo., just 29 days ago, flipped the script on its home court and out-shot the Skyhawks 42.9 percent (24-56) to 36.5 percent (23-63) from the field and knocked down nine treys to FLC's six. In addition, the Orediggers won the turnover battle 15-12, despite being outrebounded 44-38.

Colorado School of Mines ran off to a 7-0 start after Cade Mankle, who would go on to finish with 13 points on 6-13 shooting (46.1 percent), dropped in a layup in the low post. Fort Lewis would recapture the lead 16-15 on a Malik Whitaker free-throw, but the advantage was short-lived for 5:15 seconds before the Orediggers made the final lead change of the night, 27-25 on a Majok Deng trey from the wing.

Facing a three-point deficit at the half, Fort Lewis battled to a 41-41 tie on an Obi Agbim layup, but CSM quickly re-extended its lead and caught fire to run off with a 13-point advantage at the 4:05 mark on a layup from Alex Romack. Despite pulling with two, 67-65, on a three-pointer from Junior Garbrah, the final shots would not fall in the Skyhawks favor.

Agbim and Brayden Carter went for a team-high 16 points each while Garbrah was the only other Skyhawk to finish in double-figure scoring with 11 points. Whitaker finished with eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Deng led the Orediggers with a game-high 18 points followed by Mankle's 13 points and a pair of 10-point performances from both Adam Krasovec and Riley Schroeder.

Quotable
"I thought Mines deserved to win the game; we did not execute well enough to win a game on the road against a Top-25 ranked team. Now we simply turn the page and look ahead to the RMAC Tournament next Tuesday." – Head Coach Bob Pietrack

Notable
-Fort Lewis ties its program record set just last season with a 25-3 regular season record.
-The Skyhawks set a new program record with a 20-2 mark in conference play.
-FLC secures the second seed for the RMAC Tournament and the rights to host a first-round matchup on Tuesday, Mar. 5, against CSU Pueblo. Should the Skyhawks win and top-seeded and No. 6-ranked Colorado Mesa (25-3, 21-1 RMAC) lose, Fort Lewis would be in line to host the remainder of the tournament.
-Fort Lewis moves to 59-29 all-time against Colorado School of Mines and 21-20 in Lockridge Arena.
-Each of the Skyhawks' three losses have come when scoring 70 or fewer points.
-Tonight marks the sixth time all season that Fort Lewis has lost the turnover battle and the second time the Skyhawks have shot below 40.0 percent for the game.

Tournament Time
Second-seeded Fort Lewis will now host seventh-seeded CSU Pueblo for the opening round of the RMAC Tournament on Tuesday, Mar. 5, at 6:00 p.m. inside Whalen Gymnasium. All patrons, including members of the Skyhawks Club, must purchase a ticket through the RMAC Ticketing site HERE.

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