The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team proved to be too resilient and outlasted the Western New Mexico Mustangs for an 83-67 victory Friday night.
No. 21 Fort Lewis (9-3, 14-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) jumped out to a 31-10 lead early in the first half only to watch Western New Mexico (1-16, 1-6 RMAC) go on a 16-4 run that clipped away the Fort Lewis lead.
Western New Mexico’s halftime momentum was short-lived as the Skyhawks pressed on the throttle and exploded with 13-6 run to open the half. The Skyhawks found their groove in a big way by scoring 45 points in the second half.
“A conference win by 16 is still hard to do,” Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack said. “Any win is a good win. In this league, it’s so hard to win a single game, so the fact that we’re 9-3 and we’ve won a couple in a row is a good thing.”
Fort Lewis guard Joshua Blaylock felt the hot-hand for the Skyhawks by going 4-for-5 from the 3-point line to finish with a game-high 21 points.
“I was picking my spots, they were a little over aggressive,” Blaylock said.
Along with Blaylock, both Will Morse and Cade Kloster went 3-for-7 each from the 3-point line. Morse finished with 12 points and eight assists, while Kloster finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Austin Haldorson added 14 points and seven rebounds.
With the dependable shooting that the Skyhawks have, Fort Lewis can be a dangerous team down the stretch.
“Combine that with our rebounding and defense and we have the opportunity to be the best team in the RMAC,” Blaylock said.
Despite the lopsided score, Fort Lewis never truly put Western New Mexico away. It was a game of runs for the Skyhawks. Once Fort Lewis would go on a big run to stretch the lead by 20, the Mustangs would battle back to pull within 10.
“Basketball is a weird game, and we were able to get some gaps and get the lead big, and credit to Western New Mexico because they’re a well-coached team,” Pietrack said. “We didn’t do a good enough job burying them. We fouled a lot to stop the game. They played zone (defense), and we missed some 3s that we normally make.”
Fort Lewis also won the assist battle 17-8.
Willie McCray led the Mustangs with 15 points, and Jordan Enriquez added 14. Steven Loucks had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Up next for Fort Lewis is New Mexico Highlands (11-7, 10-2 RMAC) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. New Mexico Highlands will give Fort Lewis bigger problems as they sit in first place in the Mountain Division of the RMAC standings. The game will be for sole possession of first place in the conference.
“(Saturday) we will play for a shot to get tied for first,” Pietrack said. “We have to guard better and we have to keep our momentum in front of us. We’ll be prepared and ready to go.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
