Fort Lewis College gave the fifth-ranked team in the country all it could handle on its own home floor. It wasn’t quite enough.
In a tightly contest-game that saw 21 lead changes, No. 5 Colorado School of Mines (6-0, 5-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) prevailed 79-73 to hold off the FLC Skyhawks (2-2, 1-2 RMAC) on Saturday night in Golden in a big NCAA Division II clash.
“It was a regional caliber basketball game,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said. “For the first time in three years, we have a regional caliber team. I thought that showed tonight. The last couple minutes, the ball bounced their way a bit. We had some good looks, but we didn’t make them.
“I’m proud of the effort collectively, and I think we showed a bit of promise.”
Brendan Sullivan proved to be the difference down the stretch, as the Orediggers guard scored 31 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 10-of-13 at the foul line. He added four rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
It was preseason All-American Riley Farris, a senior forward, who led the Skyhawks in scoring with 22 points. He made 12-of-13 foul shots but was just 5-of-17 from the field, and he missed three consecutive shots with FLC down 70-69.
After that series of a tough missed layup through contact without a whistle, a missed jumper and then a missed 3-pointer, Mines had a 75-69 advantage with 1 minute, 6 seconds to play.
Farris added six rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in the loss, all team highs.
Brenden Boatwright had a huge game for FLC with 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes. He was 4-of-7 shooting. The play of Boatwright and Farris on the inside helped get Mines in foul trouble and led to 27 free throws for the Skyhawks, and they made 23 of those.
“We’ve been toying with the idea of going double bigs with Farris and Boatwright for a long time,” Pietrack said. “We didn’t have the opportunity to showcase that at all with our first three opponents being so small. Boatwright has been with us for a long time, and he’s a leader who brings physicality and toughness that our team needs. We expect more of that the second semester moving forward.”
Tyler Kinghorn had several big moments for the Skyhawks, including back-to-back trips down the floor in which he scored at the rim through contact. He and made his free-throw shots to put FLC ahead 65-63 with 5:40 to play.
But Mines star senior Michael Glen answered right back with a 3-pointer at the tail end of his own personal hot streak. He finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
The play of the game for FLC came from guard Corey Seng, who rejected a dunk attempt by Mines’ Titus Reed. It led to two free throws for Farris to give the Skyhawks a 67-66 lead with 4:01 to play.
After Farris couldn’t get a foul call going up for a tough layup, FLC guard Dunnell “Scottie” Stafford was called for a soft foul on the opposite end of the floor. Sullivan made 1-of-2 free throws to put Mines up 71-69 before Farris’ ensuing missed jump shot.
“If you watched the game, you know how I felt,” Pietrack said of the turn of events between Farris not getting to the foul line and Sullivan’s trip. “That’s life on the road. No excuses, you gotta make the shots and do better, but our team brought the fight right at Mines, and we don’t feel we are that far away from getting our program back where it needs to be.”
Ben Boone would be big at the end of the game for Mines. He made 5-of-7 shots from the field and 2-of-3 free throws to finish with 12 points. He added six rebounds and a pair of steals.
The Skyhawks received 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals from Will Wittman before he fouled out in 27 minutes played. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive end that led to FLC second-chance points.
Stafford finished with nine points and four rebounds.
Pietrack turned in a commendable performance as the lone coach on the FLC bench. Associate head coach Daniel Steffensen stayed back in Durango because of COVID-19 contact tracing. Colorado School of Mines had that advantage on the bench with legendary head coach Pryor Orser and his full staff.
Though FLC did not pull off the upset, it could be proud of its tough fight against one of the top teams in the country. It was the first time Mines hasn’t won by double digits this season.
The Skyhawks, the only RMAC team yet to play a home conference game this year with four games postponed because of COVID-19 issues with opponents, hopes to play at home Jan. 3 against South Dakota Mines in a previously rescheduled game.
“I told the team I am proud of our first semester,” Pietrack said. “I know we are only 2-2, but anybody who has watched our games can see we are going to keep getting better and have the right type of people here. I leave very encouraged from a three-game road trip. We’d like to have the Colorado Christian game back and felt we have that away last week, but it’s part of learning and growing. In one week, I saw tremendous growth to stand toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in Division II basketball. It speaks volumes about where this team is and can go.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
