Brendan La Rose scored a career-high 25 points, Brenden Boatwright supplied a double-double and the No. 10 ranked Fort Lewis College men's basketball dominated Adams State University 100-73 in Whalen Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
“I felt like we didn't play our best last Friday, and we really wanted to get back on track with ourselves tonight, which I believe we did,” head coach Bob Pietrack said. “We were able to get a good lead early and sustain it throughout the game tonight. We've had some ups and down the last few years as a team, but it's awfully rewarding when you have a fifth-year guy like (Brendan La Rose) do not only what he did tonight for himself but doing it within the team's goals and philosophy. He's worked so hard over the years and seeing it all come to fruition is incredible, and I know there's still more left in him.”
Fort Lewis improved to 20-2 overall and 14-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with the win. The Grizzlies dropped to 4-19, 2-15.
The Skyhawks jumped out to a 16-0 lead to open the contest, capped by a midrange jump shot from Dunnell Stafford.
Shots fell for Adams State after that, and a jump shot from Maison Adeleye got the Grizzlies within eight, 27-19.
La Rose, however, scored 16 of his 25 points in the opening half while the Skyhawks hit nine of the their 16 total threes – seventh all-time in a single game for the program – to take a 56-34 lead into halftime.
After shooting 60% from both the floor and beyond the three-point line in the opening half, Fort Lewis continued to shoot 50.0% from the field in the second half. The Skyhawks led by as many as 35 points on multiple occasions, holding Adams State to 44.8% shooting from the floor and 26.1% beyond the arc.
La Rose's 25 points led all scorers. Boatwright and JaQuaylon Mays each added 10 points. Akuel Kot scored 11.
Boatwright notched his second double-double of the season and the fourth of his career.
Mays ended with eight rebounds and nine assists to finish just shy of a triple-double.
Kolby Walker led the Grizzlies with 16 points.
A fourth-quarter push was the determining factor in a 76-71 loss for the Fort Lewis College women's basketball team Tuesday against Adams State.
The Skyhawks led for 30 minutes thanks to a final field goal percentage of 53.1 (26-of-49) compared to a 36.9% clip (24-of-65) for the Grizzlies. FLC led 13-9 after the first quarter and, after a 15-15 tie, 27-19 at halftime. After an even third quarter, however, Adams won the fourth 31-18 to overtake the Skyhawks. The biggest difference in the game was at the free-throw line where Adams State connected on 24 and Fort Lewis 12. The Grizzlies also forced 24 turnovers and turned the miscues into 22 points.
Kelsey Sorenson erupted for 31 points, making 13-of-15 field-goal attempts, to establish a career-high in the blue and gold and lead all scorers. Freshman Lanae Billy followed with 10 points to go along with five rebounds. Sophomore Sadie Misner played in a season-high 24 minutes and picked up three rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Fort Lewis fell to 8-14, 5-11 with the loss while Adams State improved to 16-7, 12-5.
