Fort Lewis College men’s basketball has looked elite at home in 2026, and the Skyhawks showed their strength again with an 87-67 win over South Dakota Mines on Saturday.
The Skyhawks had one of their most efficient offensive nights of the season, not letting the ball stick in any player’s hands, getting into the paint at will and shooting a high percentage from 3-point range.
On defense, FLC allowed the Hardrockers to fire away from 3-point range all night as SDM threw up enough bricks to solve homelessness in America. The Skyhawks’ press has caused more turnovers in other games this season, but it did enough to never let SDM get into a rhythm.
The game got out of hand enough in the second half for a great curtain call for FLC’s four seniors, who all exited the court at the same time on senior day as FLC cruised to a very important victory with the conference title still at stake.
“I’m so happy we can send our seniors, in their last home game of the regular season, out with a win,” FLC head coach Jordan Mast said. “They deserve it … they’re what we want our future Skyhawks to look like.
FLC improved to 16-9 overall and 14-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after it shot 53% from the field, 46% from 3-point range and 75% from the free-throw line. The Skyhawks finished the regular season 10-0 at home in the RMAC.
Fifth-year forward Chuol Deng led the Skyhawks with 17 points on 7-15 shooting from the field, 3-6 from 3-point range and 0-1 from the free-throw line. Redshirt sophomore guard Jaxon Smith added 14 points on 5-9 shooting from the field, 2-4 from 3-point range and 2-2 from the free-throw line.
South Dakota Mines dropped to 9-17 overall and 6-12 in the RMAC after it shot 37% from the field, 27% from 3-point range and 92% from the free-throw line. Fred Libby led the Hardrockers with 15 points on 4-7 shooting from the field, 3-6 from 3-point range and 4-4 from the free-throw line.
The Skyhawks got into the paint at will to start the game. Senior forward Cassius Carmichael was fantastic to start, using his footwork to spin for scores or dish. He scored or assisted on FLC’s six points. On the other end, SDM hit two corner 3-pointers to tie the game at six with 17:30 left.
FLC responded, showing the full arsenal of offense. Smith used the ball screens really well, getting to the rim and hitting from the mid-range. The Skyhawks started causing some turnovers and had some great moments of rim protection. SDM’s offense was dying after it stopped making 3-pointers. A no-look pass by Smith led to a corner 3-pointer for freshman guard Tate Ziemkiewicz to increase FLC’s lead to 21-9 with 10:40 left in the first half.
“We were really good on the defensive end,” Mast said. “That's kind of our staple, and we made things tough for them to get in easy ones. In fact, the ones they were hitting were kind of contested threes, which we're okay with. But then we paired it with good offense. We had much better movement than we've had over the last few weeks.”
Defense kept FLC’s lead in double-digits. SDM looked unprepared against FLC’s pressing and trapping defense. The Hardrockers threw sloppy passes that ended in the stands and looked discombobulated in the half-court, unable to run set and relying on one-on-one creation.
FLC slowly increased its lead at the end of the half up to 36-21 with 2:10 left as SDM primary offense was firing 3-pointers, after escaping FLC’s traps, and hitting those long balls at a low percentage. The Hardrockers came back, helped by getting into the bonus in the final few minutes. But the Skyhawks, powered by two 3-pointers late in the half, led 42-32 going into intermission.
SDM continued its 3-point barrage to start the second half and hit two early to cut the lead to single digits. Smith had the response, driving for a lefty layup and hitting a transition 3-pointer. Smith has really improved coming off screens to get to the basket or hitting the mid-range shot.
“We knew they were going to chase him; most teams do,” Mast said about Smith. “They don't let him get anything easy. So we try to use that to our advantage when they're chasing him. So if the help's not there, he's getting straight to the rim. If the help is there, we use him to create for somebody else. He did a fantastic job doing that for us.”
FLC’s offense got into a good flow toward the middle of the second half, moving the ball well to get good looks, playing with good composure and not forcing any isolation ball. Erhart got out in transition and found senior forward Keither Florence for the old-fashioned 3-point play, putting FLC up 60-42 with 11:20 left.
The Skyhawks led by as many 29 points and all the seniors came out with 3:20 left to a standing ovation from the Skyhawk faithful. Deng, Florence, Carmichael and Massal Diouf were honored in a pregame senior ceremony with their families.
Deng has been one of, if not the, most important players in Mast’s two years as head coach. Deng has averaged 13.5 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game in his Skyhawk career.
Florence and Carmichael have been fantastic glue and culture guys for the Skyhawks over the past two seasons, battling hard all over the court, doing what it takes to win. This is Diouf’s one season as a Skyhawk, and he’s provided size, rebounding and finishing inside FLC didn’t have last season.
“They're just such high character young men,” Mast said. “Whether they're playing well or badly on the basketball floor, they're representing themselves, the university and our program in such a positive way. Those guys are hard to replace.”
FLC will play at CSU Pueblo on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. With two games remaining in the regular season, the Skyhawks are a game behind Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa for the RMAC title. FLC will need to win out and get some help with Black Hills and Colorado Mesa losing in the last week of the regular season.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
