The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team came into Saturday night with the momentum of an exciting home-opening win against West Texas A&M the night before, and that energy carried over as the Skyhawks ran past the Greyhounds of Eastern New Mexico University 77-63.
“We’re learning how to play on back-to-back (nights),” said Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack. “They were anxious, the want was there. They wanted to play well, but we didn’t start off well. We settled for some long shots, but once we settled in then we got our rhythm and we played well.”
FLC (2-0) started the game cold by going 1-of-10 from the 3-point line. Luckily for Pietrack, Will Morse, who came off the bench, finished the night with a career-high 29 points by shooting 8-of-9 from 3-point range. Pietrack isn’t surprised Morse had a great game. The coach doesn’t view Morse as a bench player, and Morse is always on the floor to close out games.
“I was able to get some mid-range shots off, so I tried to get in mid-range first and let the 3s come second,” Morse said. “Once I got some toward the basket, that opened up outside the basket as well.”
Down 13-10 early in the first half, Pietrack called a timeout that turned out to be a game-changer.
“We played a little bit frustrated at times,” Pietrack said. “I’ll give it to Eastern New Mexico, I thought they played hard. They’re well-coached and really battled us on the glass.”
Even though Eastern N.M. won the rebound duel 41-37, the Skyhawks were able to force 16 Greyhound turnovers that resulted in 13 points. Guard John Gilliam led the Greyhounds with 14 points, and Stephon Edwards had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Led by sophomore guard Rasmus Bach and senior guard Cade Kloster, FLC found its groove in the second half. Bach finished the night with 17 points while Kloster tallied 12. Bach was able to penetrate a physical Greyhound defense and get to the foul line where he went 7-of-10 in the game. He also led with nine rebounds.
“The guys were getting me the ball in the right spot,” Bach said. “Coach was calling out some good sets because we were struggling, so he wanted us to get to the line and attack the rim. I was just fortunate enough to get the ball in the right spots.”
By game’s end, FLC finished 12-of-30 from behind the 3-point line while shooting 46.3 percent from the field.
The Greyhounds hung around for the second half thanks to fast-break points and second-chance points. After FLC found its groove, those stats dwindled.
“It helps if you get the rebound,” Pietrack said. “We’ve been working on our transition defense. In the (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conferece), there’s a lot of high-scoring teams.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
