After junior guard Obi Agbim and senior guard Malik Whitaker were the catalysts behind the Skyhawks’ ultra-important win at Colorado Mesa Friday night, Fort Lewis’ depth showed on Saturday in Salt Lake City against Westminster. Four players not named Obi Agbim or Malik Whitaker scored in double-figures for the Skyhawks in their 85-66 win against the Griffins.
Fort Lewis improved to 17-2 overall and 12-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after it shot 55% from the field and 45% from 3-point range in the win.
Westminster fell to 5-14 overall and 1-12 in the RMAC after it shot 40% from the field and 30% from 3-point range in the loss.
Senior guard Junior Garbrah led the Skyhawks with 20 points on 8-14 shooting from the field, including 4-8 from 3-point range. Junior forward Brayden Carter finished with 15 points on 7-9 shooting from the field and 1-1 from downtown. Junior guard Jhei-R Jones had 12 points as well.
“Junior played well as our senior captain on back-end road games,” Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack said. “The back-end games, I just can't tell you how hard they are. This is very difficult stuff here. This is not easy surgery. This is brain surgery. The back-end with all the travel. I thought Junior was a good leader tonight and got us to the finish line. Amondo (Miller Jr.) had a really nice second half as well.”
Pietrack said it helped that Carter didn’t play as much against Colorado Mesa because of matchups and that Carter was fresh for tonight’s matchup with Westminster.
Rylan O’Brien led the Griffins with 22 points on 7-21 shooting from the field and 4-13 shooting from deep.
Westminster hung with the Skyhawks in the first half and had a 32-30 lead with three minutes left. But Fort Lewis started making shots and ended the half on 13-2 run to lead 43-34 at half.
The Skyhawks outscored the Griffins by 10 in the second half although Westminster had cut the Fort Lewis lead to 67-60 with 7:26 left in the second half. But Carter, Miller and Garbrah all hit crucial shots to extend the lead to as high as 21 points with 10 seconds left before the buzzer sounded.
Fort Lewis plays next Friday at home against Colorado School of Mines at 7 p.m.
“It's only the second time in school history we've swept this road trip, Westminster has only been in our league nine years,” Pietrack said. “It was heck of a job by our team to sweep that road trip. We are the first team in the RMAC to sweep that road trip. So I'm proud of our team and understand we’ve got the nation's longest winning streak coming to Whalen on Friday night in our rival Colorado School of Mines.”
Colorado School of Mines has won 14 straight games and it is tied with Fort Lewis at the top of the RMAC with a conference record of 12-1 and an overall record of 18-3.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
