If someone were to tell Fort Lewis men’s basketball head coach Jordan Mast before the season two of his top players, senior guard Biko Johnson and senior forward Chuol Deng, would combine to go 2-19 from the field and the Skyhawks would win, Mast probably wouldn’t believe it. But that’s exactly what happened Saturday night against Bowie State.
Johnson went 2-13 from the field and Deng went 0-6, but the Skyhawks still managed to win 68-53 inside Brownson Arena in Grand Junction. FLC had six players score between seven and 14 points. The Skyhawks also shot a season-high 41% from 3-point range to keep a healthy margin between them and Bowie State for most of the game.
“I was really pleased,” Mast said. “We brought a physical mentality to the game because that team is pretty physical and we matched them. Our defense was really set, which allowed us to get out in transition. What I'm most proud of is our guys were really looking for one another to set guys up. We had a season-high 17 assists, which led to open threes and guys catching with their feet ready and taking good shots that led to easier points.”
FLC improved to 5-3 overall after it shot 43% from the field and 60% from the free-throw line in the win.
Bowie State fell to 3-4 overall after it shot 38% from the field, 33% from downtown and 50% from the free-throw line.
Fifth year guard Tru Allen capped off his strong play inside Brownson Arena with a team-high 14 points on 5-8 shooting from the field, 1-4 from 3-point range and 3-5 from the free-throw line. Redshirt freshman guard Stewart Erhart had 12 points on 4-5 shooting from 3-point range. Johnson finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Amare Wimbush led Bowie State with 12 points.
The Skyhawks got off to a 14-4 lead with 14:30 left in the first half thanks to four 3-pointers. Bowie State battled back to cut FLC’s lead to 24-23 with 5:41 left in the half. FLC got to the free-throw line and beyond the 3-point line to take a 35-28 lead into halftime.
“We were getting good looks,” Mast said. “The stretch where they came back, we were just missing them. Sometimes you have those lulls where the ball just isn’t going in the hoop and you have to keep doing the little things, which we did. We got a seven-point cushion going in the half and then expanded that in the second half by continuing to take great shots.”
FLC controlled the second half by shooting 50% from the field. The Skyhawks got the lead into double digits quickly and kept the lead between nine and 18 points throughout the second half.
The Skyhawks are off until they open up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play against MSU Denver at home on Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
