The Skyhawks men’s basketball team was on the edge of disaster, down three with two seconds against 4-23 South Dakota Mines on Saturday afternoon. But fifth-year guard Tru Allen had the heroics, forcing overtime with a buzzer-beater and FLC survived for a 78-70 overtime win.
FLC nearly had its fifth loss in seven games as Biko Johnson went to the free-throw line for two shots with two seconds left. Only 90 seconds earlier, Johnson missed an open dunk to give FLC the lead. Then, the Skyhawks botched a set to win the game with 10 seconds left. SDM went the other way, senior forward Chuol Deng was called for goaltending plus the foul as the Hardrockers went up three.
Despite all of this, Johnson made the first to put FLC down two with two seconds left. He missed the second, junior forward Keither Florence tapped the rebound over to Allen who threw it in from the right baseline before the buzzer to send it into overtime.
The Skyhawks then used the momentum from that shot to pull away in overtime and avoid a colossal loss in their regular-season finale.
“I don't know how many straight games have come down the last possession,” FLC men’s basketball head coach Jordan Mast said. “It just speaks to our conference. I'm learning as a coach in my first year here, I don't care what the record says, everybody’s freaking good; every team has players. When you're playing on the road, it's tough. It's great to get a win, especially way we won, to get that last play.”
FLC finished the regular season 18-11 overall and 12-8 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after it shot 45% from the field, 22% from 3-point range and 76% from the free-throw line.
Deng led the Skyhawks with 17 points on 4-10 shooting from the field, 1-6 from 3-point range and 8-10 from the free-throw line. Allen added 15 points on 6-14 shooting from the field, 1-4 from 3-point range and 2-5 from the free-throw line.
Senior guard and FLC’s leading scorer Biko Johnson was limited with a knee injury. He played 14 minutes off the bench and added 12 points.
South Dakota Mines finished its season 4-24 overall and 4-16 in the RMAC after it shot 51% from the field, 38% from 3-point range and 67% from the free-throw line.
Guido Wanschelbaum led the Hardrockers with 20 points on 7-12 shooting from the field and 6-7 from the free-throw line.
The Skyhawks started the first half strong and led 25-14 with seven minutes left in the half. But SDM responded and the game was tied 30-30 at halftime.
“Our pressure on defense … was getting us easy offensive looks and we were getting great traps in the half court,” Mast said about the first half. “Then when they kind of figured it out, the problem was … we had guys that hadn't been playing a lot of minutes get in there. They (FLC’s bench players) were working hard, but I didn't think we were very disciplined and allowed them to climb back in.”
Neither team could pull away in the second half. FLC led by six with 6:30 left before the incredible finish.
The Skyhawks are on to the RMAC tournament as the No. 6 seed. FLC should play at No. 3 Colorado Mesa on Tuesday. Colorado Mesa beat FLC 93-83 in Durango on Feb. 13.
Women start slow, can’t recover in loss to South Dakota Mines
The Fort Lewis women’s basketball team gave up 23 points in the first quarter and couldn’t recover as the Hardrockers handed the Skyhawks their eighth consecutive loss 71-59 to end FLC’s season.
South Dakota Mines led 23-12 after the first quarter and led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter before it kept a comfortable cushion in the fourth to cruise to victory.
“It’s kind of the same story as the other night with Chadron State,” FLC women’s basketball head coach Lauren Zuniga said. “When you have a couple of people scoring for you, you've got to really be efficient … and we were not offensively efficient at all other than a couple of people. So that definitely hurts. Defensively, too, not getting stops down the stretch killed us.”
FLC finished its season 6-22 overall and 3-17 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after it shot 37% from the field, 17% from 3-point range and 75% from the free-throw line.
Senior guard Livia Knapp finished her Skyhawks career with a 25-point effort on 9-15 shooting from the field, 3-8 from 3-point range and 4-4 from the free-throw line.
South Dakota Mines improved to 8-19 overall and 8-12 in the RMAC after it shot 33% from the field, 37% from 3-point range and 77% from the free-throw line.
The Skyhawks will go into the offseason with a lot of young players who are expected to return.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
