The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team spent the entire season in first place until the final weekend. Though the Skyhawks didn’t repeat as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season champions, they’ll get another chance to repeat as champions this week in the RMAC Shootout.
Fort Lewis (23-5, 18-4 RMAC) earned the tournament’s No. 2 seed, and begins its march to the title at 7 p.m. Tuesday against the league’s seventh-seeded UC-Colorado Springs (12-15, 11-11 RMAC). Though illness and injuries plagued FLC at the worst time of the year, opening up the postseason at Whalen Gymnasium is something the No. 14 Skyhawks earned, and they hope it’ll get them back on track and primed to make a deep postseason run.
“We’re just really focused on trying to be the best version of us when the ball gets thrown up on Tuesday,” Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack said. “It’s been a rough week or so for us, but any team that hosts a home playoff game this time of year had a great regular season, and 18-4 is nothing to be ashamed of. Being at home is a huge advantage for us and we’ll need everyone to contribute if we want to move on.”
FLC has been without senior guard Will Morse for the last two games of the regular season, and he’s likely to be unavailable Tuesday. However, the Skyhawks have a permanent ace in the hole in senior guard Joshua Blaylock.
Blaylock was named the RMAC’s Offensive Player of the Week for last week’s work against Adams State and Westminster. After dropping 37 points in an overtime loss to Colorado Mines, Blaylock scored 20 in Tuesday’s win against Adams State and 30 in Friday’s loss at Westminster. When the lights shine brightest, Blaylock consistently takes his game to another level.
“We rely heavily on Josh and he’s been as advertised all year long,” Pietrack said. “He’s just a special player that can win a game on his own on any given night. We also need Rasmus Bach to have a good game if we want to beat UCCS. He got banged up a bit in the game at Westminster but he should be good to go.”
Blaylock leads team and the league averaging 20.1 points per game. Bach is fifth in the RMAC at 18.5 and the Skyhawks as a whole lead the RMAC at 89.6 points per game. The team is at its best when interior players Brandon Wilson and Riley Farris are able to produce down low.
Wilson’s 7.4 rebounds per game average is tied for third in the league with Mountain Lions big man TreShawn Wilford. Wilson is also sixth in the RMAC with 1.3 blocks per game.
“Our bigs are going to have to play better than they did Friday,” Pietrack said. “They weren’t very good when we needed them, but they have both had moments when they’ve been very good. We’ll need them to do that again because we’re facing one of the best rebounding teams in the league Tuesday.”
UC-Colorado Springs has pulled down more rebounds than any team in the league and sits in the top three in all rebounding categories. However, the Mountain Lions are in the bottom half of the league in points for (78.0) and points against (79.7). Wilford’s 12.4 points per game and Justin Smith’s 12.1 lead the UCCS offensive attack, while Blend Avdili (11.0) and Elijah Ross (10.6) can score in the backcourt.
The Mountain Lions have lost three of five heading into the postseason matchup, but, at this point of the season, nobody can be taken lightly. Fort Lewis will be giving out free tickets to the first 200 students at Tuesday’s game. In all likelihood, it will be the last chance they get to see Blaylock and this year’s Skyhawks on their home court this season.
“Sometimes people forgot how hard it is to get this home playoff game,” Pietrack said. “We did well to get this home court advantage and we hope our fans can maximize the home court advantage. We’re going to need all hands on deck, and that includes the fans too.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
