The Fort Lewis men’s basketball team showed its depth and versatility against whatever defense Metro State University of Denver threw at them Saturday night at Whalen Gymnasium.
The Roadrunners tried pressing the Skyhawks and threw a 2-3 zone at them, but nothing worked. Fort Lewis led for 93% of the game and won 83-67.
Fort Lewis improved to 19-2 overall and 14-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after shooting 47% from the field and 29% from 3-point range.
MSU Denver fell to 13-7 overall and 7-7 in the RMAC after it shooting 41% from the field and 31% from 3-point range.
“It’s a good win for our program,” Skyhawks coach Bob Pietrack said. “MSU Denver is a very good team. We controlled the game, had it the whole way. The defense, we forced 15 turnovers, kept them at 40% shooting and out-rebounded one of the better rebounding teams in the league. When you do that on your home floor on the back end you have a great chance to win.”
Junior guard Obi Agbim had 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field and 2 of 7 shooting from 3-point range. Junior forward Isaiah Thompson had 14 points on 4 of 7 shooting from the field and 6 of 6 shooting from the charity stripe.
Junior guard Jhei-R Jones, redshirt sophomore guard Tristan Hurdle and redshirt sophomore forward Amondo Miller Jr. each had 11 points.
MSU Denver guard Brayden Maldonado finished with 23 points on 9 of 20 shooting from the field, 2 of 9 shooting from 3-point range and 3 of 5 shooting from the free-throw line. Quave Propst-Allison had 11 and Caleb McGill had 10 as well for the Roadrunners.
Miller Jr. was aggressive early and scored the Skyhawks’ first five points. After some spotty defense to start, Fort Lewis caused a turnover and Thompson scored four straight to push the lead to 12-5 with 15:20 left in the first half.
MSU Denver began a full-court press, but the Skyhawks were able to break it without much effort. Hurdle continued to be a zone-buster and hit a nice midrange jumper to push the lead to 16-11 with 11:14 left.
The Roadrunners were able to draw fouls and got into the bonus with 10 minutes left in the first half. Agbim was having his way getting to the hoop and had a nice drive and finish to increase the Skyhawks lead to 24-11 with 9:10 left.
“Obi’s a beautiful player,” Pietrack said. “He makes the right play, he doesn’t force things and he just plays.”
Fort Lewis kept forcing some turnovers, and a Hurdle 3-pointer pushed the Skyhawks lead to 35-22 with 3:37 to go in the opening half.
Hurdle was playing with great energy in his extended minutes in the first half. He had a block and a great hustle play to save the rebound from his own shot from going out of bounds. Fort Lewis led 41-29 at halftime.
The Skyhawks had great energy, communication and switching in the first few minutes of the second half. But that ended with Maldonado getting to the basket to cut the lead to single digits.
Once the Roadrunners returned to zone, Pietrack put in Hurdle. Hurdle made a few midrange jumpers in the middle of the 2-3 zone and had a great put-back attempt where he was fouled. Hurdle made both free throws and increased the Skyhawks’ lead to 66-49 with 10:50 to go.
“I had a lot of experience in high school, we played against a lot of 2-3 zone,” Hurdle said. “I’ve always been in that spot so it’s comfortable for me.”
Fort Lewis moved the ball well and found some inside scores from Thompson and junior forward Brayden Carter. A beautiful skyhook off the glass by Carter put the Skyhawks up 73-53 with 6:46 left.
Although two defensive breakdowns from the perimeter led to two Roadrunners 3-pointers and a Maldonado layup, cutting Fort Lewis’ lead to 73-61 with 4:55 left, Fort Lewis took its time on offense to close out the final minutes.
MSU Denver began to trap, but had no success. Fort Lewis senior guard Junior Garbrah got the ball and made a left-handed layup plus the foul to seal the game.
The Skyhawks are on the road next Friday at CSU Pueblo, starting at 7:30 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
