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Malachi Coleman at Colorado School of MInes
Nathan Asato, Mines Athletics
Malachi Coleman (0) takes the ball up the floor against the Orediggers in Lockridge Arena (Jan. 30, 2025).

Men’s basketball set for split week against Grizzlies at home, meet Cowboys on the road

2/3/2025 3:30:00 PM

By: Hayden Mangan, Assistant AD-Communications & Fan Engagement
DURANGO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis men's basketball team (14-7, 8-4 RMAC) will look to build on its momentum this week following Saturday's top 25 win as the Skyhawks welcome Adams State (8-12, 3-9 RMAC) for its annual Pink Game presented by CommonSpirit and Alpine Bank on Tuesday before heading to Las Vegas, New Mexico, to challenge New Mexico Highlands (8-12, 1-11 RMAC) on Saturday.
 
Pink Game
Tomorrow night will mark Fort Lewis' annual Pink Game, presented by CommonSpirit and Alpine Bank. Fans will have two opportunities, one at both the men's and women's halftimes, to land a paper airplane from the stands in the Skyhawk logo, with the closest paper airplane landing to the Skyhawk eye, winning a $50 gift card to Steamworks Brewing. At both halftimes, fans will also be invited onto the court to sink free throws and raise money for breast cancer research, with $1 being donated for every made free throw to the CommonSpirit Breast Care Center. Charitable donation options will also be available throughout the night.
 
Defensive Dominance
For the third straight week and the fifth time overall in 2024-25, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Week resides in Cassius Carmichael, who brings home the award following Tru Allen and Stewart Erhart over the last two weeks, respectively. Last weekend, Carmichael was essential in taking on the top-ranked Orediggers and Roadrunners, compiling 26 points, 13 rebounds, five steals, three assists, and two blocked shots. Carmichael also went for a season-high 18 points in Fort Lewis' commanding win over MSU Denver (15-5, 9-3 RMAC) on the road in the Auraria Event Center.
 
Skyhawks Leaders
Senior guard Biko Johnson continues to shine as the league's top scorer, averaging 17.6 points per game, 18.3 points in conference play, on 41.2 percent shooting from the field with a 37.7 percent clip from downtown. Senior forward Chuol Deng remains just behind Johnson with 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, which ranks fifth in the league on 41.5 percent shooting. Allen is the only other Skyhawk to average double figures with 12.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. Johnson and Allen rank second and third in the league in steals per game, while Erhart leads all players with 47 steals in total, averaging 2.2 per game and 2.5 per game in RMAC play.
 
Scouting the Grizzlies
Adams State has played its last four games on the road, going 1-3 over the same span, and has lost back-to-back games to Regis (12-8, 10-2 RMAC) and No. 12/13 Colorado School of Mines (17-3, 11-1 RMAC). The Grizzlies last win came by way of an 80-75 edge over Colorado Christian (8-12, 4-8 RMAC).
 
The Grizzlies' offense checks in at third among league opponents, and just above Fort Lewis', scoring 82.6 points per game on 46.9 percent shooting as a team. ASU, however, ranks last in scoring defense surrendering 87.1 points per game with opponents firing off at 46.5 percent. Six different Grizzlies are averaging double figures with Jude Tapia leading the charge at 16. 2 points per game on a 44.7 percent field goal percentage with a lethal 43.4 percent shooting percentage from deep.
 
Behind Tapia, Randle Ta'Veus, Luke Williams, Jaylen Alexander, John Harge, and Wyatt Helming supply another 13.4 points, 11.1 points, 11.3 points, 11.0 points, and 10.2 points per game, respectively. All six players have played in 19 or more games except for Alexander, who has started in all 16 appearances but hasn't touched the floor since Jan. 23.
 
Scouting the Cowboys
New Mexico Highlands will host Adams State on Thursday before welcoming the Skyhawks to the John A. Wilson Complex on Saturday afternoon. The Cowboys have lost four straight, and eight of its last eleven since the Skyhawks emerged with an 80-77 victory back at home on Dec. 10. NMHU's last win was a 97-96 overtime thriller against Chadron State (10-10, 6-6 RMAC) in which Kyrie Thomas buried a trey at the buzzer.
 
In the first meeting with Fort Lewis, the Cowboys' leading scorer, Kenard Richardson (17.4 pts/game), put up 20 points aided by 13 and 11-point performances from Ja'Kwon Hill and Daniel Rosenber, respectively. Hill is averaging 5.6 points and Rosenber another 5.5 points per game.
 
Blessin Kimble and KJ LaMonte are the typical duo to back Richardson, with Kimble putting up 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game on 47.9 percent shooting. LaMonte supplies another 10.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game while leading the team with 42 assists (2.1 asts/game) thus far.
 
Looking Ahead
Fort Lewis will begin a four-game home stretch next week to close out its RMAC regular-season schedule in Whalen Gymnasium. The Skyhawks will first host Western Slope rival Colorado Mesa (12-8, 6-6 RMAC) on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m. for its School Spirit Game presented by Morehart Murphy Regional Auto Center before hosting Western Colorado (6-13, 4-8 RMAC) on Saturday, Feb. 15, for Faculty Recognition Night.
 
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