It doesn’t take much time to flip momentum in a season, and the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team knows that now better than ever after two losses last week.
Two weeks ago, the Skyhawks were soaring high. They were off to their best start to Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play in program history at 12-0. FLC had won nine consecutive games and had a three-game lead in the conference standings.
Then, FLC had two close road losses to begin February. Now, FLC is on a four-game losing streak after a convincing 100-76 loss at Colorado Mesa on Thursday and an 85-77 loss at Western Colorado on Saturday. The Skyhawks need to bounce back quickly. They’re now a game behind Black Hills State for the lead of the conference with four games left before the conference tournament.
“It starts with me as head coach,” FLC men’s basketball head coach Jordan Mast said. “I can do a better job preparing them … from just a preparation standpoint and a mentality standpoint. When you have a lot of success like we did, starting RMAC 12-0, you start hearing from everybody how good you are. It’s really easy to start believing that and forgetting the reasons you were really good … we got a little comfortable.”
On Thursday, FLC lost to Colorado Mesa after the Skyhawks shot 41% from the field, 37% from 3-point range and 57% from the free-throw line.
Redshirt sophomore guard Jaxon Smith led the Skyhawks with 21 points on 5-13 shooting from the field, 3-7 from 3-point range and 8-8 from the free-throw line. Fifth-year forward Chuol Deng added 16 points and seven rebounds.
Colorado Mesa improved to 16-7 overall and 12-3 in the RMAC after it shot 61% from the field, 60% from 3-point range and 80% from the free-throw line. Ty Allred led the Mavericks with 25 points on 8-14 shooting from the field, 5-10 from 3-point range and 4-4 from the free-throw line.
The Mavericks jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after two 3-pointers and never looked back. Colorado Mesa led 21-11 with 12:26 left in the first half and extended its lead to 18 points multiple times in the first half as the Mavericks led 47-29 at the half.
“Mesa is really good,” Mast said. “They’re playing their best basketball this time of the year. Early on, they hit three really tough threes … With response to adversity, early in the season, when you’re winning games, they hit a few and you don’t even blink, but it got to us that game … instead of having that conviction and belief in what we’re doing, we lost it for a bit there.”
FLC never got closer than 15 in the second half. The Skyhawks trailed by as many as 30 points in the rout. Colorado Mesa hit 18 3-pointers, tied for the second most FLC has allowed this season. Mast said his team wasn’t playing with 100% conviction with their pressing defense, which led to last rotations and open looks for the Mavericks, who are too good not to take advantage.
The Skyhawks had a closer fight on Saturday against Western Colorado. They had a nice start against the Mountaineers, leading 18-10 with 13:31 left in the first half. Western Colorado responded, but FLC led for most of the first half. Western Colorado finished strongly and led 43-42 at the half.
Western Colorado made the second half a more one-sided affair, taking control immediately and increasing its halftime advantage to double-digits quickly. FLC made a late rally, with junior guard Donald Bangham Jr.’s layup cutting Western Colorado’s lead to 79-76 with 1:11 left.
The Skyhawks couldn’t hit the shots late to tie or take the lead, and they had to foul.
FLC dropped to 14-9 overall and 12-4 in the RMAC after it shot 37% from the field, 32% from 3-point range and 70% from the free-throw line. Smith led the Skyhawks with 17 points on 4-16 shooting from the field, 4-10 from 3-point range and 5-6 from the free-throw line. Senior forward Keither Florence added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Western Colorado improved to 8-16 overall and 6-10 in the RMAC after it shot 50% from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 74% from the free-throw line. The Mountaineers were led by Division II and the RMAC’s leading scorer, Aiden McDowell. He hit his season average exactly by scoring 27 points on 6-11 shooting from the field, 5-7 from 3-point range and 10-12 from the free-throw line.
“We actually were keying on him to the point that we changed what we do defensively, and that hurt us,” Mast said. “Their other players got going early. The first possession, we don't rotate because we're so worried about him … and then we left him open a few times. He hit us and made us pay. He's a really good player. He's one of the better scores that I've seen.”
FLC returns home to play Chadron State on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
FLC women’s basketball faced two of the top five teams in the RMAC on the road last week and didn’t have the offense to come away with a victory.
The Skyhawks lost 69-50 at Colorado Mesa on Thursday and 59-57 at Western Colorado on Saturday, as FLC remains outside the top eight in the conference needed to make the conference tournament.
“We’ve built a foundation on winning habits,” FLC women’s basketball head coach Lauren Zuniga said. “They do a lot of the winning things correctly. It just wasn’t our two games to win, but not because of a million different things, but a couple of different things we could have cleaned up.”
Colorado Mesa is a top-five team in Division II that has steamrolled its RMAC opponents by an average of 23.6 points per game. It was a slow-starting first quarter, but the Mavericks used their defense to take a 13-4 lead into the second quarter.
After being down 13 in the second quarter, the Skyhawks went on an 11-0 run toward the end of the second quarter. Freshman guard Josie Davis and junior guard Natalie Guanella had some fantastic finishes inside, and sophomore guard Katie Lamb hit a 3-pointer. Colorado Mesa was struggling to finish inside or shoot, but rallied to hit a few 3-pointers late to take a 33-24 lead into halftime.
“We just settled in, reading what the defense gives us, settling into the atmosphere, not trying to force anything, using all five people … we did a better job in the second quarter, not trying so hard to score, just working our offense,” Zuniga said.
Colorado Mesa rebuilt its lead into double-digits in the third quarter and controlled the fourth quarter with its defense.
The Mavericks improved to 25-1 overall and 15-0 in the RMAC as they shot 40% from the field, 46% from 3-point range and 85% from the free-throw line.
Colorado Mesa was led by its dynamic duo of two-time reigning RMAC Player of the Year, Olivia Reed Thyne, and former Durango High School star, redshirt sophomore guard Mason Rowland. Reed Thyne led the Mavericks with 25 points on 8-15 shooting from the field, 9-12 from the free-throw line and 15 rebounds. Rowland finished with 19 points on 4-13 shooting from the field, 1-3 from the 3-point range, 10-11 from the free-throw line and seven assists.
It was the first time Zuniga had faced Rowland in a full game since she tore her ACL early in the first quarter against the Skyhawks last season.
“She's amazing, she's just such a good athlete,” Zuniga said about Rowland. “If she didn't have her knee brace, nobody would even know that she was ever hurt. She is so explosive, such a phenomenal defender. You can tell she's super coachable.”
FLC 30% from the field, 29% from 3-point range and 69% from the free-throw line in the loss to Colorado Mesa. Junior Makaya Porter led the Skyhawks with 14 points off the bench on 5-11 shooting from the field, 2-3 from 3-point range and 2-3 from the free-throw line.
On Saturday, the Skyhawks nearly pulled off a comeback victory against Western Colorado, but fell short.
The loss dropped FLC to 14-10 overall and 7-9 in the RMAC after it shot 36% from the field, 14% from 3-point range and 79% from the free-throw line. Freshman forward Alemanualii Fonoti led the Skyhawks with 11 points on 3-9 shooting from the field and 5-8 from the free-throw line.
Western Colorado improved to 13-9 overall and 11-5 in the RMAC after it shot 28% from the field, 24% from 3-point range and 77% from the free-throw line. Ivey Schmidt led the Mountaineers with 19 points on 5-13 shooting from the field, 0-1 from 3-point range and 9-12 from the free-throw line.
The Mountaineers built up a seven-point lead in the middle of the first quarter, but FLC responded to cut the deficit to 15-12 at the end of the first quarter. Western Colorado took a 28-24 lead into halftime and then expanded on that to take a 45-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
Down by 13 early in the fourth, the Skyhawks put together a fantastic rally to take a 57-55 lead with 29 seconds left, but didn’t score again as Western Colorado won the game at the free-throw line.
“I love the way that we showed up, competitive-wise,” Zuniga said. “We were ready to play. Our energy was really good. Our defense was good. A few small mistakes cost us. It was something as simple as we missed a lot of layups in the first half that cost us … We put them up to the line too much.”
FLC hosts Chadron State at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
The Skyhawks track and field teams split up to compete in two different meets in two different states with fantastic results.
Some of FLC’s top distance runners went to the Grand Valley State University Big Meet in Michigan on Friday
Senior Hannah Hartwell repeated as the women’s 5,000-meter champion. She was in a class of her own during 16.6 laps around the 300-meter track. FLC women’s track and field head coach Gracen Key said Hartwell was on her own for most of the race, relying on an electronic pacing system around the track as she tried to break 16 minutes. Hartwell didn’t achieve that goal, but finished in 16 minutes and 15.02 seconds (non-altitude adjusted), good for the fifth-best time in Division II this season.
Also at the GVSU Big Meet was senior Alliyah Molina, who finished 11th in the women’s 5K. In the men’s 5K, senior Elijah Smith finished second for the Skyhawks, setting a school record with a 14:11.99 (non-altitude adjusted).
“It was a good meet,” Key said. “The caliber of athletes that were there on the women’s 5K side, it was competitive, especially for what we wanted Alliyah to run. But Hannah was the top seed by a large margin, and we were just trying to put together the best possible race for her.”
The rest of the FLC runner went to the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque. Freshman Eliana Angelino impressed in the women’s 800, taking the win with a 2:09.32 (non-elevation adjusted). Key has been impressed with Angelino’s grit in how she handles pain so well. Key said Angelino was a bit tired, mentally and physically, but that didn’t stop her from putting down a time that’s good enough for the national meet.
On the men’s side at the Don Kirby, sophomore Brody Hubbard finished second in the mile, sophomore Cooper Filmore finished sixth in the 3000, senior Brady Burrough finished eighth in the 800, and sophomore Evan Morozowich finished ninth in the 3000.
The men’s and women’s teams will head to the Last Chance Qualifier in Gunnison on Saturday as the final regular-season meet.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
