For the first time since Feb. 25, 2023, the Fort Lewis men’s basketball team lost a game at home inside Whalen Gymnasium.
The Skyhawks battled against Angelo State on Saturday night. FLC came back after having 10 turnovers in the first 10 minutes, along with a 9-19 mark from the free-throw line in the first half.
But Angelo State always had an answer to keep the Skyhawks at bay and the Rams took the win 69-63.
“We went into this weekend saying we want to be much more disciplined on the defensive end,” FLC head coach Jordan Mast said. “We showed that. We got a lot better, even in a game like this. Holding them to 60-something points is good. Those are games that we have to win. Moving forward, we have to be better on the offensive end. We're still finding our roles. We're searching a lot through our jump shots when we just need to make the easier ones. The turnovers obviously can't happen. If you want to play winning basketball, you have to take better care of the ball.”
FLC fell to 1-3 overall after shooting 39% from the field, 19% from 3-point range and 61% from the free-throw line.
Angelo State improved to 1-1 overall after it shot 45% from the field, 38% from 3-point range and 58% from the free-throw line.
Senior guard Biko Johnson led the way for FLC with 26 points on 8-15 shooting from the field, 3-6 from 3-point range and 7-8 from the free-throw line. Johnson was the only Skyhawk in double figures.
Chuol Deng led the Skyhawks in scoring average through the first three games. FLC’s senior forward was held to six points on 3-9 shooting from the field and 0-3 from 3-point range.
“They were super physical with him and that's on us,” Mast said about Deng. “We have to work on when teams are physical, how to get him in better spots. With him, it's also growing, where you just learn when they want to get up underneath you have to fight for position and not get pushed so far out. Because a lot of his stuff was going away from the hoop. When we get him to go to the hoop, he's going to be a player that is really hard to stop.”
Angelo State’s Carvell Teasett led the way with 19 points on 5-9 shooting from the field, 4-6 from 3-point range and 5-7 from the free-throw line.
The Rams got off to a 21-8 start after 10 minutes thanks to 10 turnovers from FLC. The Skyhawks struggled to get into anything resembling an offense. Entry passes were constantly being picked off for easy transition buckets.
FLC started to settle in thanks to some trips to the free-throw line and a nice turnaround jump shot from Johnson. A free throw by Johnson cut the Angelo State lead to 21-14 with 6:30 left in the half.
The Skyhawks shot themselves in the foot by shooting 6-15 from the free-throw line in the first 14 minutes of the game. FLC’s lack of size showed. The Skyhawks tried to crash the glass but got outmuscled many times on the defensive boards.
FLC ended the half strong by getting stops and rebounds at the defensive end. Deng hit a beautiful baseline fadeaway to cut the deficit to 33-27 at halftime.
Mast had his team executing at a high level to start the second half. Senior forward Tristan Moore caught a lob off a set and Johnson hit a 3-pointer off good ball movement to cut the Angelo State deficit to 35-32 with 18:21 left.
The Rams then went on a 10-0 run thanks to two 3-pointers and some nice drives inside.
Johnson hit a transition 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 55-46 with less than eight minutes left but Angelo State got inside and drew fouls.
FLC’s best offense late was getting the ball into Johnson’s hands. He hit a tough midrange jumper to cut the deficit to 58-52 with 4:30 left.
A terrible contest by Deng led to a foul on him and three free throws for the Rams. Angelo State made all three and went up 62-52 with three minutes left.
The Skyhawks battled until the end and got it within four with 90 seconds left. Johnson shot a contested 3-pointer down four and missed. FLC didn’t get the margin closer than that.
“I'm just proud of this group,” Mast said. “In the second half, getting down to 15 or so, it's easy to fold. This group never folded, and that's very encouraging that they got that fight in them. It's a group that's going to get better. I know 1-3 is never a fun start, but it's a group that’s going to get a lot better.”
FLC stays home to play Western New Mexico on Friday at noon.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
