Fort Lewis’ offense currently looks unstoppable, as the Skyhawks scored 85-plus points in their fourth straight game as they crushed CSU Pueblo 97-64 Saturday night at Whalen Gymnasium.
The Skyhawks improved to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after shooting 47% from the field and 44% from 3-point range.
CSU Pueblo fell to 6-4 overall (2-2 in the RMAC) after shooting 30% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.
“We played really well,” Fort Lewis coach Bob Pietrack said. “We played with great pace and the defense caused a lot of havoc. We spread the ball out, the minutes out and it was a complete team effort.”
Senior forward Malik Whitaker led the Skyhawks with 23 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the field and 3 of 4 from downtown. Junior forward Brayden Carter had an elite second half which propelled him to 17 points on 6 of 12 shooting along with seven rebounds and three blocks.
“I’m just staying patient with it,” Whitaker said. “I’ve had games where I’ve shot (2 of 10). I just trust my teammates that they always have my back, and at the end of the day the only thing that matters is the win.”
Senior guard Junior Garbrah and junior guard Obi Agbim each had 14 points, while junior forward Isaiah Thompson had 10 points.
Brevin Walter led the ThunderWolves with 15 points on 3 of 13 shooting, while Makiah Morris had 14 points.
Agbim and Garbrah got Fort Lewis off to a good start, driving and scoring to give the Skyhawks an 11-8 lead early on.
CSU Pueblo responded with some tough finishes inside and a 3-pointer to tie the game at 15.
JR Jones broke the tie with a tough layup to put the Skyhawks up 17-15, but Fort Lewis fouled its second jump shooter of the game, this time a 3-pointer. Morris hit all three free throws to put the Thunderwolves up 18-17 with 10:45 to go.
CSU Pueblo made the mistake of going zone, as Garbrah and Agbim made two 3-pointers from the top of the key to put Fort Lewis up 23-18.
The Skyhawks continued their scoring with a 12-0 run highlighted by ferocious defense and great hands which led to transition baskets. CSU Pueblo called timeout with Fort Lewis up 29-18 after a fast break alley-oop dunk from Thompson.
Fort Lewis showed off its depth with a full line change, up 35-22. Miller came right in, drew a foul and made both free throws to put the Skyhawks up 37-22 with five minutes to go.
Thompson then showed his strength with an offensive rebound and put-back, plus the foul, to put Fort Lewis up 40-24.
CSU Pueblo passed the ball well and got some open shots at the end of the half, but couldn’t convert enough to shrink the gap.
Whitaker took over the end of the half. He made a 3-pointer and got to the free-throw line with just over a minute to give the Skyhawks a 47-31 lead. He then made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Fort Lewis a 52-33 halftime lead.
Whitaker picked up where he left off and scored Fort Lewis’ first five points of the second half. Thompson hit a 3-pointer, and the Skyhawks raced out to a 60-33 lead with 18:05 left.
The ThunderWolves made a run with some missed chances from the Skyhawks. An offensive rebound led to a CSU Pueblo 3-pointer to cut the lead to 62-45.
Samier Kinsler responded with a 3-pointer to get the lead up to 20 before CSU Pueblo got inside. Pietrack was furious on the sideline, as CSU Pueblo crashed the offensive glass and got inside midway through the second half.
The ThunderWolves cut the Skyhawks’ lead to 65-48 with 11:14 left. Fort Lewis’ offense became stagnant with a lot of isolation play, which led to contested jump shots.
CSU Pueblo got to the line once again as Fort Lewis had only scored five points in a nine-minute span.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had that lull in the second half in almost every game except the Western game in the last eight days,” Pietrack said. “I don’t really know, we’ll have to study it this week and figure out why.”
Carter then put the team on his back. He electrified the crowd with a put-back dunk, which gave Fort Lewis a 69-51 lead with 8:43 to go. He then hit back-to-back baskets to extend the Skyhawks’ lead to 75-53 with 7:09 left. He later hit a corner 3-pointer, followed by free throws, a block and dunk to give Fort Lewis an 82-55 lead with 5:45 left. Carter had 13 points in those three minutes.
Agbim capped off a strong spurt for the Skyhawks with a thunderous one-handed slam on the fast break to put Fort Lewis up 88-56 with 3:51 left, officially putting the game into garbage time.
Fort Lewis will host Westminster University on Dec. 16.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
