Don’t have a Valentine’s Day sweetheart? Let Alex Herrera and Derrick White sweep you off your feet.
Two of the biggest stars in all of Division II men’s basketball will be on display at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night inside Whalen Gymnasium on the campus of Fort Lewis College, where No. 15 UC-Colorado Springs (19-3, 13-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) will visit. It’s the second of two massive games this weekend for the home Skyhawks (17-5, 12-4 RMAC).
“They’re both legitimate first team All-Americans,” FLC head coach Bob Hofman said of Herrera and White. “I can’t say enough about the all-around play of Derrick White, and the same with Alex. They both have had tremendous years.”
White, a junior guard, will enter the weekend as the nation’s second-leading scorer with 25.8 points per game. Not only does White score a lot of points, he does so efficiently while shooting 57 percent from the floor. He also ranks second in the RMAC with 4.9 assists per game and leads the conference with 2.1 steals per game. He has the third-best assist to turnover ratio at 2.4 and is third in the conference in blocked shots with 1.9 per game.
“Derrick picks his spots. He’s as good as guarding three positions as any player I’ve seen,” Hofman said. “He fills passing lanes, he can guard on the perimeter one-on-one and he doubles down on the post well.
“Offensively, it’s amazing how much he gets done. He can play point guard, two guard or post up. Such a versatile player. When he started he was 6-foot-2. Now, he’s a legit 6-6 guy. A unique player in our league.”
White has won two U.S. Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week awards this season, while Herrera earned one.
Herrera presents opponents entirely different problems as a 6-foot-9 shot-blocking center. His 81 blocked shots lead the nation, and the big man from Ignacio is averaging a double-double this season with 23.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. His total rebounds (252) rank fifth in the nation, and his 16 double-doubles rank second. He’s also first in the nation in free-throw attempts and second in free-throw makes, just six behind White.
“Fort Lewis has one of the best big men in the conference who can affect the game in so many ways,” UC-Colorado Springs head coach Jeff Culver said in an interview with The Durango Herald earlier this season. “They surround him with guys who can knock downs 3s, so it’s a difficult contest.”
Both teams are about much more than their stars, though. White has benefitted from playing alongside Alex Welsh, who is ninth in the conference with 16.8 points per game and third in rebounding with 7.5 boards per contest. He also makes 57.4 percent of his shots. Tim Billingsley also has helped the Mountain Lions in the 3-point shooting category, making 43.5 percent of his long shots.
UC-Colorado Springs is the No. 1 scoring offense in the league at 89.1 points per game, outscoring its opponents by an average of 15.4 points.
The first time the two teams met up, the Mountain Lions held on for an 85-78 victory. White scored 37 points, grabbed nine rebounds and stole the ball six times. Herrera finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots.
But before the Skyhawks can think about White and the Mountain Lions, they’ll have their work cut out for them against a CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves team that is rounding into form at the right time.
The ThunderWolves (15-7, 11-5 RMAC) have won four games in a row and sit only one game back of FLC in the conference standings in fifth place. They boast wins over two top-10 teams this season with a win at Colorado Mines and home win last weekend against UC-Colorado Springs, knocking the Mountain Lions out of the top 10.
“I think they’re as dangerous of a team as there is in this league,” Hofman said of CSU-Pueblo. “I think they have great depth and great shooters, and their coach (Ralph Turner) does as good of a job for individual game preparation as any coach I’ve ever known.”
FLC got the best of the ThunderWolves in December, one day after their loss to the Mountain Lions. The Skyhawks hung on to win a 76-70 game.
Hofman knows better than to expect his team to have anything easy against the ThunderWolves this time around.
“They had a really poor shooting game against us last time but did a great job on the offense boards. We stretched out our lead, but they came roaring back. This time of year, the top-six teams are so even that anything can happen. It’s a big time grind this time of year, but it’s also the most fun time of year,” Hofman said.
CSU-Pueblo has made more 3s than any team in the conference this season. Tyrone Marshall averages 13 points per game, and Devonte Malcolm is a 48.9 percent 3-point shooter. He makes 2.4 per game, second best in the conference.
The road hasn’t been kind for the ThunderWolves, who are 5-5 away from home this season. Meanwhile, FLC is 10-1 at Whalen Gymnasium.
Hofman hopes to have plenty of energy inside Whalen Gymnasium to help carry his players through the challenging weekend. Valentine’s Day dinner can wait, there’s big time hoops to be played first.
“Both games this weekend are going to be tremendous, very high-level basketball games,” Hofman said. “I hope any one who comes adds to the excitement and enjoys being a participant in the game and not just a spectator. We need participants and for the fans to bring the energy.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
