The No. 18 Fort Lewis Skyhawks men’s basketball team had Friday night’s game against Colorado Mesa in the palms of their hands down the stretch but let it slip away.
The Skyhawks (12-3, 7-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) and the Mavericks exchanged haymakers from the get-go Friday night, but it was the Mavericks who got in the final punch, as they finished the game on an 8-0 run to pull off a gritty 75-72 comeback win.
Colorado Mesa freshman Connor Nichols’ basket with 10 seconds left was the difference in the outcome after Fort Lewis had two chances to close out the game at the foul line and couldn’t convert. Elmer Lopez led the Mavericks with 18 points. Ryan Stephan posted 17 points and six rebounds in the win before fouling out late.
“This is a tough loss,” Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack said in a text message to The Durango Herald. “We simply didn’t finish the game. We will stay together and bounce back.”
With the game tied at 67, Fort Lewis senior Cade Kloster buried a 3-pointer and followed with a putback layup to give the Skyhawks a five-point lead. FLC had the ball up five points with less than a minute remaining, but Will Morse and Joshua Blaylock couldn’t secure the outcome at the foul line by missing the front end of one-and-one situations. The home team finished the night with an 8-0 run and stole the win from the Skyhawks’ grasp.
Kofi Josephs was a man on a mission again for Fort Lewis. Coming off his best performance of the year, a 24-point outburst in last week’s win at Colorado Mines, Josephs was sharp again from long range. The senior led the way with 21 points for the Skyhawks, and Kloster had 15 in the loss.
In a frantic first half, both teams looked like world beaters at times and looked like bottom feeders at others. The Mavericks (10-6, 6-4 RMAC) took a big lead early with a 13-3 start to the game. Fort Lewis came right back with an even bigger run, a 16-2 outburst that gave the visitors the lead. Not to be outdone, Colorado Mesa responded with a 10-0 run to recapture the lead. It was Fort Lewis, however, that finished a wild first half on a 8-2 run and carried a 39-35 lead into halftime.
It was a closely contested second half until Colorado Mesa was forced to play the last few minutes without Stephan, who fouled out late after picking up three fouls in less than two minutes. Kloster’s five consecutive points seemed to wrap up the game, but missed free throws kept the door open.
Up by one with 29 seconds left, Josephs was trapped in the backcourt and called for an offensive foul when his elbow hit a Mesa player, giving Colorado Mesa the chance to win on the last possession. Nichols’ running one-hander rattled in and the Skyhawks were unable to convert at the other end.
Fort Lewis will try to rebound at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Westminster College at Salt Lake City.
jfries@durangoherald.com
