Both sides exchanged hard-hitting blows all night, but a 13-2 run capped with a three-pointer from Junior Garbrah at the top of the arc gave the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team the edge needed to top New Mexico Highlands 83-74 in a thrilling, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game Friday at the John A. Wilson Complex.
“I can’t express enough how proud I am of the grit we showed tonight,” FLC Head Coach Bob Pietrack said. “Highlands is a very talented team, and they won’t lose many more games at home this year. These road games are extremely challenging, and we have a target on our back that everyone will throw their best at. We’ve been tested by plenty of great teams like Highlands tonight, but we’ve always found something left in the tank to get the job done.”
Akuel Kot led all scorers with 30 points, Garbrah added 16 points, Dunnell Stafford scored 14 and Obi Agbim added 10.
JaQuaylon Mays had a quiet seven points and the senior point guard also led the Skyhawks with seven rebounds and five assists. Agbim also had four assists and four steals.
The difference maker for the Skyhawks, especially down the stretch against the full-court press, was outscoring NMHU in fast break points 26-12.
The Skyhawks are now 9-0 overall and 3-0 in RMAC games while the Cowboys fall to 3-6, 1-2.
Highlands knocked down 12 three-pointers to take down the FLC women’s team 78-56 on Friday.
The Skyhawks struggled to find a groove offensively, shooting just 32.8% (19-of-58) from the field compared to a mark of 48.3% (29-of-60) for the Cowgirls. NMHU was even more impressive from three, shooting 50% (12-of-24) versus FLC’s 28.6% (6-of-21).
Junior Kelsey Sorenson led FLC with 10 points despite suffering an injury early in the second quarter and only playing 14 minutes. Sophomores Avery Evans and Ava Strange each contributed nine points. Graduate student Kaitlyn Bell snagged six rebounds, three offensive, to go along with four points. Freshman Lanae Billy turned in eight points and four steals.
The Skyhawks are now 4-5, 1-2 while NMHU improved to 8-1, 2-1.
Both FLC teams were also scheduled to play at CSU-Pueblo on Saturday as this paper was going to press.
