One second-half run was all the cushion the Skyhawks would need.
The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team used a 13-1 run to turn a three-point lead into a 15-point edge and held on to win 82-69 against New Mexico Highlands on Friday in Las Vegas, N.M.
FLC (9-3, 6-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) led 40-27 at halftime, only to see the Cowboys (7-6, 4-5 RMAC) trim the lead to 53-50 with 10 minutes, 8 seconds to play. But the Skyhawks quickly turned the tide, and while they got close, the Cowboys never could pull even.
“(Friday), the story of the game was our defense,” FLC associate head coach Bob Pietrack said. “We guarded better than we have been guarding, and you put that together with Nick (Tomsick) and Alex (Herrera) playing well along with the bench stepping up.”
Herrera led the way with 19 points and 13 rebounds, scoring 13 of his points at the free throw line. Tomsick used a hot second half to score 14 of his 19 points, including a perfect 12-of-12 mark for the game from the free throw line.
Wes McKenzie, who played sparingly in Saturday’s win over Black Hills State because of foul trouble, had a strong bounce-back effort Friday, scoring 17 points and pulling in six rebounds.
“That’s exactly what a senior should do is bounce back like that,” Pietrack said. “We all have a ton of confidence in him, and we knew he would.”
Stuart Sullivan led N.M. Highlands with 18 points, thanks to six 3-pointers.
The Skyhawks were able to keep Highlands at bay on the glass, as well, pulling in 38 rebounds to 28 for the Cowboys, who shot just 39.7 percent from the field. FLC also made serious hay at the foul line, hitting 32-of-36 attempts against just 10 makes in 17 tries for the Cowboys.
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