The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team set a school record in Friday’s game against Diné College, but the mood was hardly celebratory after the game.
In what was a men against boys kind of matchup on a neutral-site court in Golden, No. 24 Fort Lewis took nothing for granted in a 117-33 win against the Navajo Nation’s tribally controlled community college. The plus-84 margin of victory is fourth most in school history, and every player on the FLC roster scored. The 33 points allowed is a new record, besting the previous school record, set in 2011 against Chadron State, by 10.
However, the most impactful moment of the game was a play that resulted in a knee injury to starting big man Riley Farris that will likely sideline him for an extended length of time, if not the entire season.
“This was the type of game that was run for us like a Thursday practice or a scrimmage the day before a big game,” Skyhawks head coach Bob Pietrack said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “The goal was to get all the guys some playing time and we were able to do that. Unfortunately, part of the goal was to come out of here without anyone getting hurt, and we weren’t able to do that.”
Daniel Hernandez and Jalen Terry led the way with 14 points, while Kane Martinez grabbed seven rebounds to lead FLC. Dontez Thomas added 13 points in the lopsided win.
The extraordinary mismatch was quickly apparant as the Skyhawks led 35-6 midway through the first half and pushed the lead to 64-15 by halftime. All that was left to do in the second half was secure the record-setting win.
After the game, the celebration was minimal as fears about Farris injury became reality. The Skyhawks’ redshirt freshman had scored in double figures in each of FLC’s games and was averaging 15.3 points per game in his first season.
“It was just a normal basketball play,” Pietrack said. “Riley went up for a rebound and he took some contact in the air that sent him off balance and came down awkwardly. They’re telling us it’s probably a torn acl, which is really disappointing. This is the way it goes sometimes, and nobody’s going to feel sorry for the RMAC champs because one of our guys went down. The team we play next isn’t going to take it easy on us that’s for sure.”
The Skyhawks will stay in Golden for a 3 p.m. Saturday matchup with Wayland Baptist. The Pioneers (7-1) beat Colorado School of Mines 78-76 Friday night to give the Orediggers (4-1) their first loss of the season.
jfries@durangoherald.com
