One final tuneup before the grind of one of the toughest Division II conference seasons in college basketball.
Fort Lewis College (5-0) will welcome Park University (3-6) out of Gilbert, Arizona, at 7 p.m. Saturday inside Whalen Gymnasium in Durango. It will be the sixth of eight consecutive games at home to open the schedule for the yet-to-be-beaten Skyhawks.
“Park has won a couple in a row, and they do have some really talented guys,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said. “They pose a challenge to us, and we know we have to be prepared to play.
“Our focus the whole week has been on how we can get better, especially defensively, to hone in for the start of the conference season.”
FLC will look to finish the non-conference schedule strong before a visit from defending Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament champion New Mexico Highlands (5-0) in a premier showdown Dec. 6.
Defense has been a focal point for the Skyhawks in practice this week. FLC has averaged 91.2 points per game, second in the conference behind only Highlands at 95.8 per game. But FLC has allowed 78 points per game to opponents this season, which is 11th in the 15-team conference.
“We’ve been able to go back to the basics a bit defensively on what we are trying to do and continue to build on the success we have had,” Pietrack said. “We want to get stops, back-to-back stops, three in a row. That will allow our offensive-minded team to start building a gap on teams. Until we get multiple defensive stops in a row, we are a work in progress.”
FLC’s offense has been powered by hot 3-point shooting at 45.1%, the second-best mark in the conference. The Skyhawks also have been good with the ball and boast the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the RMAC.
FLC junior forward Riley Farris is second in the conference in scoring at 23.4 points per game. He is behind only Sammy Barnes-Thompkins of Highlands, who has scored 25.5 per game. Farris has done it while shooting 57.7% from the field and 93.1% from the foul line.
Also in the top-10 in RMAC scoring is FLC freshman guard Akuel Kot, who is tied for 10th with 17 per game. Danny Garrick, a senior, has given FLC 15.6 points per game and has made 48.7% of his 3-point attempts. His 19 made 3s are tops in the conference.
Pietrack is looking forward to seeing his team match up with Park University center Tyson Beringer. The 6-foot-10 center scored 30 points and had six rebounds in Park’s win against Ottawa University on Nov. 21. Jake Ellis, a 6-3 guard from Parker, also is a tough scoring threat for the Buccaneers.
The contest will come 10 days since the last game action for FLC, which played five games in 12 days and was eager to get some rest before a return to the court for practice.
“We were able to take three full days off and get a good week of practice in this week,” Pietrack said. “Any time you get multiple days off to heal the nicks and knacks that are hard to heal in the conference season as well as get your legs a chance to recover, it’s a good thing for the team.
“We want to go out and play well and continue to carry momentum into the start of RMAC games the next week against Highlands.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who:
Park University (3-6) at Fort Lewis College (5-0)
What:
College basketball
When:
7 p.m. Saturday
Where:
Whalen Gymnasium, FLC campus
Twitter:
@jlivi2
