It won’t get any easier for the No. 2 seeded Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team as they move on to the second round of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The Skyhawks (28-3) pulled away down the stretch Saturday to beat Dallas Baptist 95-87 and advance to the regional semifinal. Their opponent will be three-seed Angelo State (24-6), which beat University of Arkansas-Fort Smith 92-85 in Sunday’s early game to advance. The semifinal is scheduled to tip at 4 p.m. Sunday.
The Skyhawks have won 16 in a row heading into Sunday’s game against a Rams team that has a non-conference record of 15-1 and started the season 12-0. Two of the six Angelo State losses came against regional No. 1 seed and host Midwestern State, which beat Angelo State in the Lone Star Conference championship 88-72.
“We haven’t had much time to study film, but Angelo State looks awfully good from what I’ve seen,” Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “They’re big, athletic and they have another dynamic point guard we’ll have to try and stop. It’ll take our best effort again to advance.”
Like Fort Lewis, Angelo State had a big first half in the opening round game and hung on late to advance. Senior forward Stedman Allen scored 26 points in 28 minutes in the Rams’ win while point guard Tre Bennett had 20. The two have led Angelo State all season with Bennett averaging 17 points per game and Stedman 16. The Rams average 87.5 points game, just as the Skyhawks’ first round opponent Dallas Baptist did heading into the regional, and give up 77 points per game to FLC’s 72.
Fort Lewis was also led by point guard and forward play in its first-round win. FLC guard Joshua Blaylock scored 33 points, and he’ll be head-to-head with Bennett in what should be another marquee matchup. Rasmus Bach had 19 points and eight rebounds, and he’ll join Cade Kloster, Jared Smith, Kofi Josephs and company in trying to limit Stedman’s output.
While Dallas Baptist and Angelo State both have high-powered offenses, Angelo State goes about it in a different way. The Rams average seven 3-pointers a game while Fort Lewis and Dallas Baptist average around 11. Stopping the long range firepower of the Patriots was the focus in the first round, but that focus will shift to stopping the penetration of Bennett in the next round.
The winner of Sunday’s game will play in the regional final and the chance to go to Frisco, Texas for the Elite 8.
“I’m happy that our guys still have the chance to compete,” Pietrack said. “We just want to keep playing basketball and keep this thing going. That’s what we love to do.”
On the other side of the bracket, host and top-seeded Midwestern State fell 79-73 in overtime to Lubbock Christian. Colorado Mines also fell 83-61 to Tarleton State, who will face Lubbock Christian at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the other semifinal.
jfries@durangoherald.com
