After Brenden Boatwright sunk a game-winning shot on Friday for the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team, Akuel Kot came up big for the team on Saturday in a 79-70 win over Angelo State University.
Kot paved the way for FLC with 29 points in the final game of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference-Lone Star Conference challenge, hosted by New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
The Skyhawks are now 2-0 overall while the Rams fell to 1-1 overall after defeating New Mexico Highlands on Friday.
“Akuel was sensational, in Kot we trust,” Fort Lewis College Head Coach Bob Pietrack said. “You also cannot underestimate just how important Boatwright is to us down low. When you're early in the season and still developing as a program, you need prime-time players to step up; Kot and Boat did just that.”
Saturday’s game was an offensive battle from the get-go between the Rams and Skyhawks. Angelo State took a pair of three-point leads early, but then Junior Garbrah found nothing but net from the three-point line to give Fort Lewis a 15-12 lead and some momentum.
The Skyhawks began to pull away and went up by 10 points, 31-21, when Kot drilled a step-back three with just over five minutes on the clock.
As the half began to wind down, the Rams began to find openings. Devaughn Thomas made the basket underneath while getting fouled and added a free-throw to cut FLC’s lead to 39-32 at the end of the first half.
Angelo State rallied to start the second half and tied the game at 47-47 on a free throw from Reggie Quezada.
Quezada stayed hot, and the Rams took an eight-point lead with just over eight minutes on the clock.
Fort Lewis began to climb back, and eventually took a 67-66 lead when Garbrah drained a three-pointer in the left corner.
Angelo State was unable to respond after Garbrah's three, and a series of fouls, including two technical fouls, kept Fort Lewis at the free-throw line, where it was able to seal the win 79-70.
“These regional games are like a heavyweight fight,” Pietrack said. “Some rounds will go your way, some won't. When your back is against the wall, you have to lock in and battle back. I'm so proud of these guys today with how they stayed in it and brought it home in the final minutes.”
Kot finished with 29 points, shooting a combined 6-14 from the floor, 3-6 from three and 14-16 at the free-throw line. Boatwright added 18 points, and JaQuaylon Mays and Garbrah both scored eight.
Quezada tallied 30 points to lead Angelo State.
Angelo State outshot the Skyhawks from the field 45.6% to 41.8%, but Fort Lewis shot 42.1% from the three-point line to the Rams’ 25%.
The Rams out-rebounded the Skyhawks 37-25.
The Skyhawks open their season 2-0 for the first time since 2020-21, and the pair of wins also puts FLC 2-0 against South Central Regional opponents.
Next, Fort Lewis returns to Durango for its home opener on Friday against Northern New Mexico College. As a part of both the Skyhawks Hardwood Classic and Nike N7 games, the Skyhawks will face off with the Eagles at 5:30 p.m. followed by the FLC women and NNMC at 7:30 p.m.
