After losing the previous matchup three weeks ago, it took two quarters for the Fort Lewis men’s basketball team to figure out how to handle Regis Friday night. When the Skyhawks finally found their groove, it was lights out for the Rangers.
FLC found itself down 14 after a hot start by the visitors, but methodically chipped away at the deficit before exploding in the second half. The 57-point outburst in the final 20 minutes was enough to hold off the Rangers 89-81 and extend the home winning streak to 27 games.
Joshua Blaylock led Fort Lewis with 27 points, 17 of which came in the second half. Rasmus Bach had 18 points, while Daniel Hernandez and Alex Semadeni pitched in 14 apiece off the bench.
“Regis is a really good basketball team with two star players and they played really well,” Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack said. “I think the difference was our ability to go a little bit tougher. The guys really buckled down after a tough start, and when you’re playing against a really good team, you have to take some adversity.”
Regis (12-5, 6-5 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) brought the adversity big time and came out firing bulls-eyes with Jarrett Brodbeck leading the brigade. Brodbeck scored 16 first-half points, eight in a row during a stretch to give the visitors a 14-point lead. If Brodbeck would have spent more time on the floor, Fort Lewis might have been in deep trouble, but three first-half fouls and a fourth with 18 minutes left in the game sidelined the shooter when he was 7-for-9 from the field and 5-for-6 from long range. The Hawks had no answer for him, but the officials did the job for them, and the home team started to chip away.
“He got the third foul late in the first half, which was a tough call,” Pietrack said. “I was surprised they put him out there, but we talked in the locker room at halftime and wanted to get his fourth early in the second half.”
Brodbeck started the half by hitting a 3 that gave the Rangers a six-point lead, but the fourth foul came with 18 minutes left in the game, and Fort Lewis came alive. The Skyhawks (16-3, 11-2 RMAC) went on a 14-5 run that gave the hosts their first lead of the evening.
After the big Regis first-half run and the response from Fort Lewis, it was a one-possession game with 10 minutes left and the outcome was up in the air. The Skyhawks used a 7-0 run to build a seven-point lead at 67-60. Regis cut the deficit to three, but success at the line and stops at the other end kept the lead as time ticked away on Regis. Even as the Rangers tried to intentionally foul Ross Buchman, FLC continued to hang on to the comfortable cushion until the buzzer sounded.
Brodbeck and Regis big man Dexter Sienko led the Rangers with 26 points in the loss.
“This was a big win for us because you never want to get swept by a team in this league,” Bach said. “It’s big when you look at the seeding for the NCAA Tournament, so I think we made a statement.”
Fort Lewis will try to extend the streak at Whalen Gymnasium to 28 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Chadron State.
jfries@durangoherald.com
