It was fitting that the No. 9 Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team clinched the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title Saturday night the way they’ve done it all season.
Smothering defense, precision shooting from a variety of sources and a ruthless killer instinct led Fort Lewis (23-3, 18-3 RMAC) to its 11th consecutive win in Saturday’s 97-61 rollover of Western New Mexico. The win wrapped up the RMAC title for the Skyhawks, who hold the RMAC Shootout’s top seed and the new school record for regular season wins.
“It’s a happy locker room, and I just feel lucky to have the best young men I could have hoped for,” Fort Lewis interim head coach Bob Pietrack said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It’s such a long season, but the memory of winning will be something these guys will always have with them. They earned this.”
Six Skyhawks finished in double figures, as Cade Kloster led the way for the second consecutive game with 17 points. Joshua Blaylock had 14 and Will Morse had 12 in the back court. Jared Smith poured in 11, while Kofi Josephs and Kody Salcido came off the bench and scored 13 and 10, respectively.
The defense held Western New Mexico to 31 percent shooting on the night, while the sharpshooting Skyhawks on offense shot 50 percent from 3-point range, making 14-of-28 attempts.
“The 3-pointer has been a staple for us this season,” Pietrack said. “But, we take pride in our defense, and we guarded the ball well.”
The Skyhawks were reminded early that they have a target on their backs every night they take the floor, as the Mustangs (1-25, 1-20 RMAC) came out like it was their biggest game of the season.
The home team started the action with a 6-0 run, but the Skyhawks quickly had enough of that.
They responded with an 8-0 run to grab the lead, and they weren’t interested in playing catchup again.
The Skyhawks didn’t just hold the lead, they built a mountain of an advantage that Western New Mexico wasn’t equipped to climb. FLC put up 49 points after shooting 60 percent in the first half from the field and 54 percent from 3-point range. The result was a 49-30 halftime lead.
As if the lead wasn’t big enough, Fort Lewis started the second half on a 13-0 run to erase any ideas from the home team of a miraculous comeback. Before long, the Skyhawks’ lead was 30 and the regulars for FLC got a well-deserved rest as they cheered on their reserves and watched time tick away as a school milestone approached.
“This is a special moment, but we still have a ways to go,” Pietrack said. “We can’t take any nights off no matter what we’ve accomplished because regional rankings are at stake.”
The Skyhawks haven’t lost a game in 36 days and sit at No. 3 in the regional rankings. That may change, though, as Angelo State and Dallas Baptist lost on Saturday.
Fort Lewis will celebrate senior night and close out the regular season schedule with a 7:30 p.m. tip Friday against Adams State, who gave FLC one of its three losses this season.
jfries@durangoherald.com
