GOLDEN
In last week’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team blew a late lead, went to overtime and lost the title to Colorado Mines.
It was such a crushing defeat, head coach Bob Pietrack wouldn’t speak of it between last Saturday and the start of the regional tournament. However, in the opening-round of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball South Central Regional Tournament, the fifth-seed Skyhawks (26-6) finished the job against back-to-back tournament champion Tarleton State (22-8) with a 94-90 overtime win and earned the right the right to play for some revenge against the Orediggers at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
Rasmus Bach’s two free throws in the final minute of overtime gave the Skyhawks a 92-90 lead, and Joshua Blaylock sealed the deal with 4.4 seconds as his rebound and two free throws clinched the first ever FLC win in the South Central Regional Tournament against a Lone Star Conference team.
Blaylock led all scorers with 36 points, and he played all 45 minutes of the overtime thriller. Bach and Brandon Wilson each added 14 in the win.
“I wouldn’t say there were thoughts of last week,” Bach said. “I think that made us just want it more. We had been in that situation before, and I think that helped us pull through.”
Fourth-seed Tarleton State, an Elite 8 team from a year ago, came out like the perennial powerhouse they’re known to be. They scored nine of the game’s first 11 points, but Fort Lewis answered with a run of its own to tie the game.
The Texans had a significant advantage inside and went to work early and often. The target on the interior was senior forward Romond Jenkins, and he delivered.
Jenkins had 19 points in the first 20 minutes on 7-for-9 from the field. However, the Skyhawks stayed right there with the Texans. After trailing by double digits, FLC scraped back to tie the game at 35 before Tarleton State finished the half on a 7-0 run.
The Skyhawks shot just 37-percent in the opening half, while Jenkins led a 53-percent clip for the Texans.
“Jenkins had some easy buckets in the first with some of those dunks being pretty much uncontested,” Pietrack said. “We didn’t do much differently in the second half but try to get him off his spots.”
The strategy worked, as Jenkins was held to just seven second-half points and became almost a non-factor down the stretch.
Senior guard Chantz Chambers, however, filled the void nicely.
The second half started with promise for FLC, as the Skyhawks scored eight of the first 10 points to cut the deficit down to one. However, in what became the theme of the game, Tarleton answered right back with three consecutive 3-pointers that pumped the lead right back to double digits.
Fort Lewis answered with a 10-2 run to tie the game back up at 61 with 10 minutes to play.
This time, the Skyhawks got over the hump. Wilson’s layup gave the Skyhawks their first lead of the game at 63-61 in the midst of a 27-11 run that turned the tide.
The teams went back-and-forth until FLC jumped ahead. The Skyhawks led by seven points with 4 minutes left, but this time, Tarleton State came all the way back to tie the game after a lane violation gave Jenkins an extra free throw with 40 seconds left that tied the game.
The Skyhawks had a couple chances to win at the end of regulation, but two Blaylock 3-pointers went off the rim to send the game to overtime.
“We felt like Josh has earned the right to take those shots,” Pietrack said. “Just like Chambers earned the right to take theirs in overtime.”
Having lost twice in overtime this year to Colorado Mines, Fort Lewis came out in the extra frame and went straight to work. The Skyhawks scored the first two points and, though the Texans tied it a number of times, it was now Tarleton State that couldn’t get over the hump.
A Blaylock 3-pointer gave the Skyhawks an 89-86 lead, but a pair of Texans baskets and a split at the foul line from the senior guard knotted the score at 90 in the final minute.
Bach’s two free throws gave FLC the lead, and Chambers, who had been unstoppable off the dribble, went for the win with a 27-foot step back 3-pointer that was guarded beautifully by long and lanky Skyhawk Kane Martinez.
The ball clanged off the iron, Blaylock made two free throws, and the Skyhawks pulled the upset.
Chambers led Tarleton State with 32 points and Jenkins finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
“I don’t think it’s possible for a coach to be as proud of a team as I am of mine,” Pietrack said. “I knew if we were just in the game in the last 10 minutes, we had a really good chance to win. These guys are a special group, and we are thrilled to get one more chance at a class program like Colorado Mines. There’s going to be an RMAC team in the final, and that’s huge for all of us.”
West Texas A&M’s Ryan Quaid came off the bench to score 29 points and grab 18 rebounds to lead the Buffaloes (25-8) in a 97-86 win against fellow Lone Star Conference foe Texas A&M Commerce (19-11).
All-league point guard David Chavlovich also scored 29 points for West Texas A&M.
The Buffaloes dominated the opening 20 minuets and led by 19 points at halftime. The Lions of Texas A&M Commerce came roaring back to cut the deficit to as little as five points before Chavlovich took over. Lions senior Malik Albert ended his career with 33 points and 10 rebounds in his final game.
The Buffaloes will face No. 7 Texas A&M-Kingsville in the second round at 5 p.m. Sunday.
The Javelinas of Texas A&M-Kingsville went the length of the floor with 4.9 seconds left and Marcus Frazier banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to upset regular season Lone Star Conference champion and tournament two-seed Texas Permian Basin (26-6).
Frazier had 15 points and Duan Wright led the team with 19.
The Javelinas (19-11) made nine first half 3-pointers to grab a big lead, but the Falcons chipped away. UTPB took its first lead since the opening minutes of the game with just over a minute remaining. The Falcons had a chance to win, but a jump ball gave possession to the Javelinas, and Frazier hit the game-winner.
Daeshon Francis led Texas Permian Basin with 16 points.
The regular-season Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion Orediggers sprinted out of the gates on their home floor. Colorado Mines started the game on a 10-0 run but the underdog Lions (23-11) fought back to pull within one by halftime.
Gokul Natesan led Colorado Mines (28-4) with 20 points and hit three consecutive 3-pointers early in the second half that gave the Orediggers a comfortable lead. The Lions came back to tie the game midway through the half, but Colorado Mines finished with a plus-10 margin on the glass and finished the job at the foul line to clinch the win in front of a rowdy student section. Ben Clare added 17 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
The Orediggers and Fort Lewis will play at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Mines has won each of the previous two meetings in overtime.
jfries@durangoherald.com
