The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team has two big tendencies this season: they play in close games and they win.
That was the case Friday night when New Mexico Highlands came to town and pushed the 17th-ranked Skyhawks for nearly the entire game before FLC secured an 80-72 victory at Whalen Gymnasium in Durango.
“The problem is every team is really good,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said. “There’s a reason Highlands has 13 wins. They’re a very talented team and they’re very well coached. I don’t think people give Craig Snow enough credit for how well-coached of a team they have and how far that program has come in the time he’s been there.”
The Skyhawks (18-3, 14-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) started the night by connecting on three of their first four attempts from behind the 3-point line and got out to an early 13-4 lead. But the advantage didn’t last long, as the Cowboys settled in and went on a 10-2 run to make it 15-14 FLC.
Highlands (13-9, 6-5 RMAC) kept rolling offensively and took a 20-19 lead.
“I think it was more Fort Lewis starting off quick,” Snow said of the start.
“We’ve been here before when that snowball starts rolling and it gets scary. I think we were fortunate to get back and get a couple stops and get a little bit of rhythm going offensively.”
From there, the Cowboys kept finding ways to score against the Skyhawks, but every time Highlands looked to be in control, FLC answered, usually in the form of senior guard DJ Miles.
Miles led the Skyhawks with 16 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting, including a 4-for-6 clip from long range.
“After I hit my first couple of 3s, things started to open up for me to drive in,” said Miles, who had a game-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
“And when they went to a zone, I noticed a lot of their guys had their hands down. Like all good shooters, hand down, man down.
“That’s all I was really doing.”
While Miles was pacing the offense, swingman Alex Semadeni provided a spark off the bench with his impassioned play and drew a charge that provided the loudest roar from the crowd up to that point.
The Skyhawks took a 34-33 lead into halftime and quickly got the lead to double digits in the second half. But, like the first half, the Cowboys didn’t go away.
Each time FLC looked poised to blow the game open, Highlands would respond with a couple baskets to keep the Skyhawks within reach.
FLC began to separate from the Cowboys with about six minutes remaining and got its lead back to double figures.
Like Miles did in the first half, fellow senior Rasmus Bach led the charge for FLC in the second half, as he scored 10 of his 15 points in the second on 4-of-7 shooting in the half.
Semadeni continued his strong play in the second and scored nine of his 11 points in the second stanza. He also had five rebounds, five steals and three assists in the win.
“I thought a player for them that made a huge difference was Semadeni,” Snow said.
“Their offense seemed to flow a little better when he was on the floor and he was a difference-maker. He’s always in the right spot and makes the right play. I really thought he was the difference for them and put them over the top.”
Highlands made a late push and got within three points at 75-72, but Daniel Hernandez put the game away with a pair of free throws and Semadeni came up with a steal to secure the win.
Hernandez was the fourth Skyhawk to crack double-digit scoring with 17 points, including a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also dished out six assists.
Jacob Holland and Mike Nwabuzor led Highlands with 21 points each. Chris Lewis chipped in 10 points and had a double-double with 10 rebounds.
FLC will host CSU-Pueblo (12-11, 7-9 RMAC) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Whalen Gym.
“It will be a war against one of the most talented teams in our league,” Pietrack said. “Pueblo is a very good basketball team.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
