Black Hills St. BHSU 9-7,5-3 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC 11-6,5-3 RMAC

Black Hills St. BHSU

9-7,5-3 RMAC

Final

Jan. 18, 2025

Fort Lewis FLC

11-6,5-3 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Black Hills St. BHSU	36	37	73
Fort Lewis FLC	29	53	82

Summary
Box Score

Kaitlyn Silva

Chuol Deng (11) fires off a trey at the top of the arc against the Yellow Jackets in Whalen Gymnasium (Jan. 18, 2025).

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/18/2025 5:59:00 PM | Hayden Mangan, Assistant AD-Communications & Fan Engagement

Skyhawks sting Yellow Jackets on the back of dominant second-half performance

Fort Lewis overcomes nine-point deficit in second-half

DURANGO, Colo. – Facing a seven-point deficit at halftime, the Fort Lewis men's basketball team (11-6, 5-3 RMAC) answered the call and shot 61.5 percent in the second half to overcome Black Hills State (9-7, 5-3 RMAC), 82-73, for the Skyhawks fourth-straight win at home in Whalen Gymnasium.

"Huge credit to our coaching staff, they did a great job preparing us for this test," head coach Jordan Mast commented after the game. "I felt that our attention to some of those details wasn't there in the first half, but credit to the guys for locking in and responding in the second half. We were able to close out on their shooters, get to the rim on our end, and overall, I thought it was a great grind-out win by the entire team."

Despite surrendering 11 of its 19 total turnovers in the first half, Black Hills State was well in control, out-shooting Fort Lewis 48.3 percent (14-29) to 29.0 percent (9-31) while knocking down seven of its nine three-pointers on the afternoon. The Skyhawks managed to limit the Yellow Jackets to just a seven-point lead thanks to nine made free throws on twelve attempts. Fort Lewis would finish the day with 25 made free throws on 32 trips to the line (78.1 percent).

Black Hills State sank the opening bucket of the second half for a nine-point advantage but saw its lead slowly shrink over the next ten minutes as the Skyhawks went 7-for-13 over the same stretch and sank five free throws before Stewart Erhart drove to the middle of the lane elevated over three defenders for a layup and the 53-52 lead, which later stood as the final lead change of the night. BHSU forced a two-possession game late, but Biko Johnson put the game on ice with a seven-point lead thanks to a step-back trey at the top of the arc with 19 seconds remaining.

Johnson finished with 19 points, most notably finishing 11-of-13 at the charity stripe while adding two rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Chuol Deng led all players with 20 points on 5-of-11 shooting a perfect 8-8 mark at the free line. Deng also nabbed seven rebounds and picked up two steals. Tru Allen and Cassius Carmichael round out the Skyhawks to finish in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Four Yellow Jackets finished in double digits, with Caelin Hearne leading the charge on 17 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal. Cam Lowe had an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double, his third in as many games, while former Skyhawk Tristan Hurdle put up 12 points on 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc in his return to Durango. Joel Speckman had the final ten points for BHSU.

Fort Lewis won the turnover battle 19-to-8, scoring 19 points off of turnovers to Black Hills State's two, drew 24 fouls to its own 17, and picked up 11 steals. The Skyhawks have made 10 or more steals in eight consecutive games. Black Hills State out-rebounded FLC 38-30.

Notes
-Fort Lewis won its third consecutive game over Black Hills State to lead the Yellow Jackets 11-6 all-time and 5-1 at home.
-The Skyhawks have won back-to-back conference games for the first time since Dec. 10-12.
-FLC has forced 15 or more turnovers while making 10 or more steals in eight consecutive games.
-Fort Lewis' 25 made free throws are the third-most in a game this year and mark the sixth time FLC has made 20 or more in a game.
-With his 20 points, Chuol Deng has scored 20 or more points in two of his last three games and four times total for the season.
-Biko Johnson stayed hot, scoring 16 or more points for the fifth consecutive game.
-Cassius Carmichael has scored 10 or more points thrice in his last four games.

Up Next
Fort Lewis will head to the Front Range for the first time this season next week for a pair of conference games on the road at Colorado Christian (7-9, 3-5 RMAC) on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. and UCCS (10-6, 4-4 RMAC) on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 3 p.m.

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