For the first time in 63 days, the Fort Lewis men’s basketball team lost a game.
The Skyhawks had no answer for University of Colorado Colorado Springs’ 3-point shooting and fell on the road Friday night, 79-70.
Earlier in the night, the Fort Lewis women had trouble with the Mountain Lions and fell 77-62.
The Fort Lewis men (12-2, 7-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) shot 47% from the field and 23% from 3-point range. The Skyhawks’ winning streak snapped at 12 games.
UCCS (7-8, 3-6 in the RMAC) shot 49% from the field and 44% from 3-point range.
Senior guard Malik Whitaker led the Skyhawks with 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the field and five rebounds. Junior guard Obi Agbim had 13 points on 6 of 15 shooting from the field.
“I don't think anybody in our team played very well on offense,” Fort Lewis men’s head coach Bob Pietrack said. “I don't know what the stats were but it’s irrelevant. We didn't play well enough. We didn't coach well enough. We didn't execute well enough. We didn't compete well enough. We didn't do anything well enough to win a conference road game and because of that, we have to sit here with this feeling.”
Noah Baca led the Mountain Lions with 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the field and 4 of 4 from 3-point range.
Both teams were tied at 31 at half despite the Skyhawks’ shooting 0 of 5 effort from 3-point range and the Mountain Lions’ 8 of 19 display from downtown.
Fort Lewis dominated inside but couldn’t slow down UCCS from outside. A 14-3 advantage in 3-pointers made for UCCS was too much for Fort Lewis to overcome.
In the women’s game, Fort Lewis (8-6, 5-3 in the RMAC) shot 37% from the field and 28% from beyond the 3-point arc.
Sophomore guard Lanae Billy led the Skyhawks with 21 points on 5 of 14 shooting from the field, 3 of 7 shooting from beyond the arc and 8 of 11 from the free-throw line.
Junior guard Avery Evans had a season-high 17 points on 5 of 6 shooting from the field, 1 of 1 from 3-point range and 6 of 8 from the charity stripe along with six rebounds.
Senior forward Kelsey Sorenson struggled and fouled out after she played 15 minutes and scored nine points on 4 of 7 shooting and turned the ball over seven times.
UCCS (9-6, 6-3 in the RMAC) shot 50% from the field and 35% from 3-point range.
Amyah Moore Allen led the Mountain Lions with 13 points off the bench, while Jessica Nation and Maison White each had 12 points each for UCCS.
The Mountain Lions surged out to a 23-11 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Fort Lewis had 26 turnovers compared to 18 for UCCS.
Both the men’s and women’s teams play in a Saturday doubleheader at Regis University, starting at 3 p.m.
“We have our backs against the wall on a road trip anytime you lose the first one,” Pietrack said. “You have aspirations of having a good season your back is against the wall. We play a very good basketball team tomorrow, much better than the team we played tonight. So if we don't fix things and get better, compete much better, execute better, it won't be good again.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
