The Fort Lewis men’s basketball team doesn’t have a ton of height on its squad, especially compared to a Northern New Mexico team with two players taller than 7 feet. FLC got outrebounded 35-21 on Saturday night against the Eagles. What the Skyhawks do have is a powerful full-court press that could negate any height difference going forward.
FLC caused 27 turnovers and had 41 points off those turnovers. The Skyhawks moved the ball well against Northern New Mexico’s zone defense and pulled away at the end of the second half to win 78-60.
“Our defense was good both halves,” FLC head coach Jordan Mast said. “It was really good in the first half, flying around, creating turnovers to give us easy points. Credit to our team, we talked about driving and attacking to set up teammates. We had the most assists we’ve had in a half. When we do that, our offense looks really good and we get easy shots that we practice and hit in rhythm.”
The Skyhawks improved to 3-3 overall after shooting 46% from the field, 27% from 3-point range and 62% from the free-throw line in the win. Northern New Mexico fell to 0-3 overall after it shot 41% from the field, 36% from 3-point range and 61% from the free-throw line.
Junior guard Malachi Coleman led the Skyhawks with 16 points on 5-7 shooting from the field, 3-5 from 3-point range and 3-4 from the free-throw line. He also had a team-high four steals in 19 minutes off the bench.
Fifth-year guard Tru Allen finished with 12 points on 4-8 shooting from the field, 1-3 from 3-point range and 3-7 from the free-throw line. Senior forward Chuol Deng had 12 points in 4-13 shooting from the field, 1-9 from 3-point range and 3-4 from the free-throw line. Deng also had a team-high six rebounds and three blocks.
Nigel Quaynor led Northern New Mexico with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
The Skyhawks started turning over the Eagles early with their press. Senior guard Biko Johnson and Allen got easy transition buckets. After trailing 8-4, the Skyhawks took a 12-9 lead with 15 minutes to go after senior forward Tristan Moore made some free throws after a steal.
FLC continued to make Northern New Mexico look like chickens with their heads cut off against the Skyhawks’ press. It looked like the Skyhawks were playing eight-on-five. All FLC players had active hands and Northern New Mexico couldn’t string two passes together much less get into an offense. FLC caused seven turnovers in three minutes, mainly in the backcourt, to take an 18-11 lead.
“Our staff did a great job game planning,” Mast said. “We felt they were really strong with their bigs and if there was a weakness it was their guard play handling pressure. Their guards could really shoot it. We wanted to get them out in space and handle pressure. Credit to our guards for flying around and creating those turnovers that got us easy points.”
Northern New Mexico also pressed a little bit but it wasn’t as effective and FLC broke it consistently. The Skyhawks got some great shots and could’ve extended its lead but they weren’t falling. FLC continued to press well and get out in transition. The Skyhawks were 10-11 from 2-point range and 1-10 from 3-point range as they led 27-18 with eight minutes left in the first half.
The ball continued to move well against Northern New Mexico’s zone defense. Coleman moved well off the ball and hit two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions for a 39-27 lead with two minutes left. Deng and Moore hit 3-pointers before the end of the half to put the Skyhawks up 46-29 going into the second half.
“We have two very good senior guards in Biko and Tru so when they get downhill I know I have to space the floor for them,” Coleman said. “Also, Coach James (Jansen) told me at the beginning of the season to sprint to the corner and now that I’ve started doing that that’s where I get a lot of my shots at.”
Northern New Mexico switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half, which slowed down FLC’s offense a bit. Allen found some driving lanes and got to the free-throw line to keep the Skyhawks’ advantage.
The Skyhawks struggled to score at times against the Eagles defense. Three-point shooters weren’t as open as they were against the Eagles zone. But FLC was getting to the foul line.
FLC continued to press but didn’t get the steals it did in the first half. Instead, the Skyhawks fouled and the Eagles were in the bonus with 11 minutes to go. Two 3-pointers in a row cut FLC’s lead to 59-51 with 10 minutes left.
Northern New Mexico went back to a zone defense but FLC struggled to get stops in the middle of the second half. The Eagles started to hit some 3-pointers and their size caused some issues on the boards to cut FLC’s lead to 62-56.
But when they needed it most, the Skyhawks’ defense stepped up. Redshirt freshman guard Stewart Erhart had a steal and made some free throws. Northern New Mexico turned it over thanks to the Skyhawks press. Coleman buried a corner 3-pointer to put FLC up 71-56 with 3:51 left.
“It’s just us trusting each other,” Coleman said about the press. “When coach tells somebody to go trap it’s really the back side and rotations. We’re building that trust and getting to know each other a lot. As we go on, it’s going to get even better.”
The Skyhawks hit the road to play Emporia State University on Friday in Grand Junction at 5:30 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
