Riley Farris came off the bench to score 13 points in the first half, DJ Miles added another 21 off the bench in clutch time, and the Skyhawks impressed in their home opener Thursday.
No. 16 Fort Lewis College (2-1) rolled to a 95-81 victory against Northern New Mexico inside Whalen Gymnasium in Durango. Miles scored 18 of his 21 points in the game’s final 12 minutes after Northern New Mexico had cut the FLC lead to 60-54, and that propelled the team to victory.
“I felt like we needed someone to come in the game and be the spark the team needed,” Miles said. “We kept trading baskets. When that happens, it gets kind of annoying. I felt like I needed to come in and spark the team so we could finish out the game.”
In his first game inside Whalen, junior forward Marquel Beasley put on a show with 17 points and eight rebounds. Though he missed a pair of would-be electrifying dunks in the first half, Beasley settled in and brought the fans to their feet time-and-time again.
“I thought Marquel played with good energy,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said. “We can’t get him in foul trouble. He was effective but needs to play more than 25 minutes a game. He plays so hard, he has a tendency to pick up fouls. We gotta coach him better to not get fouls.”
Rasmus Bach, a senior captain and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year, got the Skyhawks started with six points and four rebounds in the game’s opening seven minutes. He finished with 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds and played with the type of energy the Skyhawks will need if they hope to make another run at a conference title.
Northern New Mexico (2-10), an NAIA school out of Espanola, New Mexico, couldn’t hang with FLC down the stretch in the second meeting between the teams this year. FLC beat the Eagles 96-82 on Nov. 3 in an exhibition.
Three consecutive 3-pointers, including one that went for a four-point play, for Braxton Bouyer cut the FLC lead to 61-54 with 12 minutes, 39 seconds to play in the game. But, after a Pietrack timeout, the Skyhawks responded with an 11-0 run to take command. Miles made a pair of 3-pointers on the run and two free throws for an 8-0 run all his own.
Miles stayed red-hot the rest of the night, as FLC built the lead back to 21 points before inserting several reserve players for the game’s final minutes.
“We really needed DJ,” Pietrack said. “If he can play well, he’s really gonna help us and give us another all-league player to play with. It was a big second half. We got in a rut, and he got us out of a rut quick.”
Bouyer led the Eagles with a game high 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting and 4-8 from behind the 3-point line. Northern New Mexico head coach Ryan Cordova was proud of how his team, which is only allotted one scholarship, played against the Skyhawks.
“For Lewis is a well-coached team and has a great fan environment here. You know you have to play your best when you come in here,” Cordova said. “If it weren’t for Braxton, we would’ve been in a heap of trouble. But that’s what he’s able to do. It’s amazing that a walk-on is able to help us compete with Fort Lewis College. I know it was a 14-point loss and got to 20, but we were up 20 on them at our place and they came back to beat us. Gotta get the wins when you can.”
The Skyhawks dominated in rebounds, 46-34. Farris finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Miles added four rebounds, and Brandon Wilson had nine points and five rebounds.
FLC scored 20 second-chance points and outscored the Eagles 42-22 in the paint.
“To score 95 points, we had good distribution with four guys in double figures,” Pietrack said. “We’re very much a work in progress. We think this team can be good, but we’re not very good right now. We gotta find a way to be positive all the time.”
FLC will have eight days off before its next game at 3 p.m. Nov. 25 against Johnson & Wales, another NAIA school. FLC has had trouble getting good non-conference games on the schedule ever since a win at Wyoming in 2015.
“The chemistry is not where it should be, yet, but we’re still growing,” Miles said. “During this little break, we will come to practice and get to work. We’ll be great come December, hopefully.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
