The first loss of the season won’t hurt the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team.
FLC dropped its second of three exhibition games to open the season 86-74 Saturday night against Westminster College in Salt Lake City.
“It was horrible. We got down 18 in the first half and came all the way back, but we just kind of used up our energy,” FLC head coach Bob Hofman said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We did learn a lot about the team this weekend in these two exhibitions, though.”
FLC senior center and Ignacio High School alumnus Alex Herrera scored a game-high 28 points and collected nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks, but it wasn’t enough for FLC to claw out of an early hole.
The Skyhawks took an early lead on Westminster but saw it evaporate into a 32-16 deficit after making wholesale substitutions. The Skyhawks’ starters were able to get the Westminster lead down to 41-40 but never got any closer after going to the locker room down 45-42.
“We played 14 guys again and were just looking for different combinations. We tried a lot of different defenses,” Hofman said. “It was an exhibition, and I thought our effort was decent. Westminster played extraordinarily hard, and it was a good learning lesson for us.”
FLC shot 48.3 percent from the field to 54 percent for Westminster. The Skyhawks were limited to 5-of-21 from behind the 3-point line one night after making 15-of-32 behind the arch in a win against fellow NAIA school Montana Western.
The Griffins, a future Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference program, shot 46.7 percent from 3-point land.
“They had lost two straight games to RMAC teams at home, and they put more effort into it,” Hofman said of the Griffins. “That’s to their credit. We have to guard better, figure out what defenses to play. Individually, I am happy with where we are.”
Redshirt freshman guard Rasmus Bach had 12 points and three assists for FLC, and junior forward Kody Salcido chipped in nine points off the bench. FLC junior guard Cade Kloster finished with seven points.
Jordan Pryor had 28 points, Kenny Woodward 16 and William Walker 14 to lead the Griffins.
The Skyhawks turned the ball over 15 times in the game to 12 by Westminster. The Griffins turned those turnovers into 21 points, while the Skyhawks scored 12 points off Westminster turnovers. The Skyhawks had just two fast-break points in the game.
FLC controlled the post behind Herrera, scoring 44 points in the paint.
FLC, a Division II program, will wrap up exhibition play against Division I Colorado State University at 7 p.m. Monday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins.
“It’s just another exhibition, and it’s a Monday night so I don’t anticipate it being very big,” Hofman said. “It’s good for us to play superior athletes, and it will be another learning lesson before a massive game next Friday against St. Mary’s in Ignacio. That’s a big one in region.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
