The last time the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team played a game at CSU-Pueblo, the Skyhawks were knocked out of playoffs in the first round of last year’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament. On Friday night, FLC got revenge.
After taking a double-digit lead into the locker room at halftime, the Skyhawks withstood a 12-0 ThunderWolves run to open the second half and responded with a huge run of their own en route to a 87-76 win.
Joshua Blaylock had another outstanding performance for Fort Lewis on both ends of the floor. The point guard scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the first half and held CSU-Pueblo’s Chris Golden to three points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Rasmus Bach had 20 points while Will Morse and Kofi Josephs chipped in 15 each off the bench.
“This team is built to win with a total team effort, and that’s what happened out there (Friday night),” Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “On any given night it can be one of many guys who carries us, and it was a bit of revenge for us.”
Blaylock’s 15 first-half points, and a 14-0 first-half run helped build a 43-33 halftime lead for Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks (8-1, 3-1 RMAC) shot 50 percent in the first half and held the ThunderWolves under 40 percent in yet another solid defensive effort.
The ThunderWolves came out of halftime with a chip on their shoulders.
After being outplayed in all aspects of the game during the first half, the home team ran off an impressive 12-0 run to start the second. The torrid stretch of play allowed the ThunderWolves to take a brief lead before Morse’s 3-pointer stopped the bleeding and regained the momentum that was temporarily left in the visitors’ locker room.
Morse’s 3 sparked a 16-3 Fort Lewis run that put the Skyhawks up by nine and back in control. With the ThunderWolves focused on stopping Blaylock, it was time for other Fort Lewis players to step up, and they answered the bell.
Bach, Morse and Josephs carried the load with most of their points coming in the second half. Kody Salcido put in big minutes off the bench and poured in five points to go with nine rebounds in 19 minutes of work.
“Kofi and Kody came in and gave us some fantastic minutes,” Pietrack said. “We needed that, and they proved that it’s not going to be one or two guys, it’s a collective effort that we’re looking for and that’s what we’re building around.”
With the big road win, Fort Lewis pushed its record to 8-1 before heading to Gunnison for a 7 p.m. Saturday tip off against Western State.
“Western State is always a tough place to play,” Pietrack said. “In this league, you have to be able to digest a win or get over a loss quickly and come back the next day. We’re happy with this win, but we have to start fresh and hungry (Saturday).”
jfries@durangoherald.com
