Tied with 90 seconds to play, one mistake tipped the balance in Saturday night’s showdown between No. 20 Fort Lewis College and University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.
With the game tied at 75, UCCS guard Elijah Ross came up with the basketball on the defensive end, but he was whistled for a foul. His face showed the anguish of being called for a crucial foul, and he jumped in the air with the ball in frustration. He was immediately whistle for a technical foul, and FLC went on to make eight consecutive free throws to close out an 83-79 road win to end a stretch of seven road games in the Skyhawks’ last eight contests.
“We just got done with an unprecedented seven of eight road games. That’s never been asked of an RMAC team,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said. “Throw in Christmas break in there where guys have to leave. To get through that stretch of schedule and still be tied for first in the RMAC, I’m awfully proud of our guys for toughing through it.”
Rasmus Bach made four of those late free throws, as he put the team on his back during multiple stretches of play Saturday night. He finished with a game-high 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the FT line. He also had five rebounds. Bach, a junior, has now surpassed 1,000 career points in his college career.
“Ras had a special game,” Pietrack said. “He really stepped up when we needed it, and that’s what great players do.”
Bach scored 16 points in the first half, as star guard Joshua Blaylock sat for 11 minutes of the first half with two fouls. Blaylock had only three points on 1-of-2 shooting in the first half, but he regrouped and finished with 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting and an 8-of-11 showing from the FT line.
The game was neck-and-neck for its entirety, as the lead changed 12 times still early in the second half. But FLC was able to build a 55-47 lead halfway through the second half and was able to at least maintain a tie the rest of the way.
A Geoff Kelly layup for UCCS had tied the game at 75-all briefly before Ross’ technical foul. But Bach’s dominant play in the final two minutes and that foul were too much for the Mountain Lions to steal a win. Wilson had 10 points and six rebounds for FLC, while Daniel Hernandez finished with 11 points and five rebounds and two key free throws after the technical.
Brandon Malone led the Mountain Lions with 20 points and five rebounds. TreShawn Wilford added 17 points, Justin Smith had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Ross had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists.
The Skyhakws had lost two in a row against Regis and Metro State after winning 22 consecutive conference games. Pietrack was proud of the bounce back Saturday.
“We got punched in the face (Friday night) at Metro,” he said. “We didn’t have the legs tonight at all, but we found a way to win. We’re not the greatest team in the world, but we sure are tough.”
FLC will now return home for four games and will play eight of its final 12 games inside Whalen Gymnasium, where FLC has won 24 consecutive games.
“We can’t wait to see the Whalen,” Pietrack said.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
