It took awhile for the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team to get up to speed with Northern New Mexico on Saturday at Whalen Gymnasium. But, with school history in the balance, the Skyhawks got it together in a hurry.
No. 15 FLC (3-1) trailed by as much as five points in a fast-paced opening 20 minutes, but Northern New Mexico (2-6) couldn’t contain Joshua Blaylock, Riley Farris, Will Morse and company for long with the school’s all-time home winning streak record on the line. The Skyhawks exploded late in the first half to reclaim the lead and unleashed a relentless run in the second half to close the door emphatically. The end result was a 107-63 win, the team’s record-tying 21st consecutive win at Whalen Gymnasium.
Blaylock led FLC with 20 points while Farris and Morse added 15 each.
“There’s a recipe for winning at home, and we’ve found it here for awhile,” Skyhawks head coach Bob Pietrack said. “If you’ve got team players that care about winning and loyal fans that really care, you’re good. Then you add a historic venue like Whalen Gymnasium that has had such good basketball over the years, and add that in to the mix, you’ve got a good recipe.”
The recipe was slow to cook Saturday. The final score didn’t indicate the impressive start Northern New Mexico had to open the game.
The Eagles struck some fear in the home fans with a 13-2 first-half run that had the Skyhawks shaking their heads, but the confusion wouldn’t last. Fort Lewis, sparked by a feisty and aggressive Daniel Hernandez off the bench, closed out the first with a 17-2 run that changed the complexion of the game quickly.
“I don’t think it’s as much of what they did, as what we didn’t do,” Morse said. “I’m confident in our offense, and I know we can score with the best of them, so it was only a matter of time.”
With blood in the water, Morse made the Northern New Mexico comeback trail much longer early in the second half. The senior guard poured in three 3-pointers on three consecutive FLC possessions to give the Skyhawks a healthy 23-point lead. The hot stretch started a crippling 14 minute, 45-11 Fort Lewis run that demoralized the shell-shocked visitors and secured a spot in the record books.
“I feel like the record really doesn’t mean nothing,” Blaylock said. “It’s just a start. It’s the beginning of the season, and we have a lot of work left to do as a team.”
Fort Lewis will be back in action at 1 p.m. Friday in Golden for a neutral site game against Diné College on the Colorado Mines campus.
jfries@durangoherald.com
