There are simply no breaks in the Rocky Mounatin Athletic Conference, and the No. 20 Fort Lewis College Skyhawks needed contributions from a variety of players to come away victorious in Friday night’s game against Regis.
The middle-of-the-pack Rangers came into Whalen Gymnasium and gave the Skyhawks all they could handle. Good teams find ways to win, and Fort Lewis found scoring from a number of sources Friday. The FLC bench outscored the Rangers’ reserves 31-8, and six Skyhawks finished in double figures as Fort Lewis pulled away down the stretch to win 92-80.
Kofi Josephs and Cade Kloster led the way for Fort Lewis with 17 points each. Austin Haldorson and Joshua Blaylock finished with 15 apiece, while Rasmus Bach and Will Morse added 11.
The win is the fifth in the last six games for the first-place Skyhawks.
“We knew that they could shoot, but we didn’t know they were going to shoot that good,” said Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack. “They’re definitely a team on the rise, and they were making anything. Lucky for us, Kofi kept us afloat in the first half.”
It was evident early that Regis’ record wasn’t representative of the talent the team has. The Rangers came out firing and built an early six-point lead in a sharp shooting barrage in the opening minutes.
The teams combined to make 12 3-pointers in an evenly played first half that ended with Fort Lewis hanging on to a two-point lead behind Josephs’ 12 first-half points. The Skyhawks’ senior was a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance in the first half and led the attack while the rest of the Skyhawks were a dismal 1-for-8.
“Kofi is coming alive at the right time, and it’s great to see,” Kloster said. “There’s been a lot of behind the scenes work he’s put in to get to this point, and we’re all proud of him.”
It took awhile for the Rangers to give in, but Fort Lewis (16-3, 11-3 RMAC) used an 8-2 second-half run to create a bit of space. However, the Rangers kept coming.
Freshman Jarrett Brodbeck, Noah King and big man Dexter Sienko had a response for the Skyhawks every time it looked like the home team was ready to pull away.
Regis cut the Skyhawks lead to four, but that was as close as they would get.
In what’s becoming a nightly thing of late at Whalen Gymnasium, a Morse 3-pointer from the corner gave Fort Lewis a comfortable nine-point lead inside five minutes.
However, It was Josephs company off the Skyhawks’ bench that made the big difference Friday night.
“I finally feel physically and mentally where I’d like to be,” said Josephs, who has overcome multiple injuries to be on the floor for Fort Lewis. “It just feels good to be able to help the team now, finally.”
King and Sienko led all scorers with 18 points. Brodbeck had 17, and Ryan Beisty finished with 14 in the loss for Regis.
Fort Lewis will be back at Whalen Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for a matchup against Chadron State.
jfries@durangoherald.com
