Bob Pietrack wanted his team to play like champions Friday night. The Skyhawks answered the call of their head coach.
A strong finish to the first half translated into a brilliant second half of basketball, as the Fort Lewis College men executed and got timely baskets around the superstar play of junior forward Riley Farris to roar past the Metro State University of Denver Roadrunners 78-65 on Friday night inside Whalen Gymnasium on the FLC campus in Durango.
Farris scored a game-high 25 on 9-of-18 shooting points after he was frustrated with only seven points in the first half that included a 2-of-12 shooting start to the game. He took over the first five minutes of the second half, and his teammates Junior Garbrah and Will Wittman followed suit.
“Give credit to Metro, they’re a good defensive team,” Farris said. “(Kendall) McIntosh is one of the best out there. They were showing a lot of focus on Danny Garrick because he’s such an elite shooter. He brings so much attention, and it makes it so much easier for us. The second half, I had to take it upon myself to take better shots than I was in the first half.”
Farris added seven rebounds for FLC (10-2, 4-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference), while Danny Garrick had a game-high 12 rebounds to go with just two points. Druce Asah led Metro State (6-6, 2-4 RMAC) with 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting and 3-of-10 from 3-point range. Metro State shot 10-of-36 from 3 compared to 5-of-13 from FLC. The Skyhawks held Metro State to 33.3% shooting overall.
“I thought (associate head coach Daniel Steffensen) had a really good game plan defensively, and we worked really hard at it,” Pietrack said. “Weve been focused on trying to do the very best we can at trying to make people take long shots because we gotta protect the paint. That’s basketball. We gotta get the ball in the paint, and we gotta protect the paint. It’s pretty simple.”
Wittman would finish with 17 points. He was motivated playing against Metro State head coach Michael Bahl, his old AAU coach from his high school days who Wittman said never recruited him coming out of Otero Junior College.
“It feels good. I want to show teams what they missed out on because I didn’t get recruited by anybody in the RMAC besides coach Pietrack,” Wittman said. “I want to show teams what they missed out on.”
Garbrah added 12 points and four assists with nine points in the second half to continue his strong freshman season.
“Man, his energy is good as we’ve had in this program,” Pietrack said of Garbrah. “He brings great energy. He’s very unselfish, he’s very tough. What he is, if you’re a coach, is exactly the type of young man you want on your team. He’s tough, unselfish, energetic and not shy of the moment. He’s having a great freshman year.”
Pietrack was especially pleased with his team after it only turned the ball over eight times and went 23-of-29 at the foul line.
It was a bit of a nervous finish for FLC after it built a 16-point lead with eight minutes to play, but the Skyhawks made enough free throws down the stretch to keep the Roadrunners at a distance. Wittman iced the game with a steal that led to a foul, two free throws and the ball. It was Wittman who dribbled out the clock for the win.
FLC’s biggest deficit was only six points. The Skyhawks had to play much of the game without point guard Logan Hokanson, who had three fouls early in the first half. Not wanting to have freshman guard Akuel Kot pick up a second foul in the first half, Pietrack kept Kot on the bench and went to a big lineup much of the first half.
That lineup featured Brenden Boatwright on the floor with Farris and Danny Garrick. Boatwright played a key role in drawing charges, and he added six points. Hokanson also finished with nine points.
Pietrack said FLC has worked in practice to get Boatwright and Farris on the floor together more, and he credited Boatwright for making winning plays.
Maris Colton added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Roadrunners. Elijah Straughter scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
FLC will look to sweep the initial homestand of 2020 when it will host Chadron State (2-10, 1-5 RMAC) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Eagles will come in hungry after an 81-78 loss at Adams State on Friday night in Alamosa.
“Chadron always plays hard,” Pietrack said. “We had a great game with them last year up there, and coach (Houston) Reed is an excellent coach, and those guys play hard.
“If you look at this league, it’s every night. These teams are good, and if you don’t bring it, you’ll get beat. We will get rest tonight, try to get focused and try to play our best game again tomorrow night.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
