The No. 5/6 ranked Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team has been soaring high recently and entered its regular-season finale on a 10-game winning streak with a chance to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference outright.
The No. 15/24 Colorado School of Mines, however, shot just a bit better than the Skyhawks on Saturday and escaped Whalen Gymnasium with a 75-64 win.
With the loss, FLC finishes as co-RMAC champions with Colorado Mesa University, tied with 19-4 conference records. The Mavericks, however, won the only game between the two teams so they will be the No. 1 seed for the upcoming RMAC Tournament. The tournament’s top four seeds, which also includes Mines and Black Hills State, will host first-round contests while Mesa will host the semifinals and finals in Grand Junction on March 3-4.
FLC will be the No. 2 seed and host a RMAC quarterfinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Fort Lewis and Mines both struggled shooting the ball early on Saturday. FLC only made five of its first 21 shots from the field while Mines hit 6-of-18.
The game’s eighth lead change broke a 14-14 tie, putting Mines up 16-14. The Orediggers then went on a run to take a 10-point lead, 30-20.
JaQuaylon Mays, however, was making plays all over the court for FLC and had an answer. Mays hit a three, then turned a steal into a fast-break bucket to cut the lead to five, 30-25. A Brenden Boatwight bucket made it a one-score game, 30-27, but Mines scored the next four points to take a 34-27 lead into halftime.
The teams traded baskets to start the second half, but Mines eventually got hot and went on a 13-2 run to take its biggest lead of the night, 49-33.
Akuel Kot then found a groove and scored 10 points in about two minutes of clock, hitting a 3-pointer, a jumper and five free throws for FLC. Mays and Obi Agbim added a pair of free throws each during the 14-4 Skyhawk run that cut Mines’ lead to 53-47.
After Mines scored three points, Kot sunk another 3-pointer to make it 56-50, but the Skyhawks wouldn’t any closer the rest of the way.
FLC only shot 32.8% from the field in the game (19-of-58) compared to a 46.6% clip for Mines (27-of-58). Fort Lewis, however, made its first 20 free throws and finished 20 of 21 from the line.
Kot led FLC with 24 points. Boatwright scored 14, Agbim added 12 while Mays scored 10.
Adam Krasovec led Mines with 20 points while Adam Thistlewood scored 16.
The Fort Lewis College women's basketball team saw its season come to an end in front of a packed Whalen Gymnasium on Saturday night, falling narrowly to No. 16/17 Colorado School of Mines 78-75.
The game had eight ties and eight lead changes throughout, but Mines was able to finish on top.
Fort Lewis ends the season 9-19 overall and 6-16 in the RMAC. The loss marked the career end for seniors Alyssa Adams, Kaitlyn Bell, Brooke McGee, Tayla Nez, and student assistant coach Beck Hix.
