The No. 11 team in the country wasn’t about to lose two games in a row at home.
The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team fell 88-70 at the Colorado School of Mines on Saturday in Golden, one night after the Orediggers lost for the first time at home to Adams State.
Wes McKenzie tied the game at 36 with 1 minute, 30 seconds left until halftime, but that’s the closest the Skyhawks ever would get to victory.
“We kind of hit a wall in the second half against a very good team,” FLC head coach Bob Hofman said. “We got in foul trouble the beginning of the second half. You can’t get in foul trouble against a good team.”
Colorado Mines (16-2, 12-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) snapped off a 13-0 run over the next 6½ minutes, eventually outscoring FLC (12-6, 9-5 RMAC) 21-4 over the next nine minutes.
“They kind of built a little gap,” Hofman said. “We really struggled with their shooting.”
The Orediggers shot 60 percent from the field, led by Brett Green’s 19 points. Five other Colorado Mines Colorado Mines players reached double digits in scoring.
FLC made 42 percent of its field goals and 19-of-21 free throws, but the Skyhawks couldn’t stop Colorado Mines’ scoring.
Colorado Mines outrebounded the Skyhawks 38-18, only nine of which were defensive boards for FLC. The Orediggers had 14 offensive boards that led to 12 second-chance points.
Alex Herrera and Wes McKenzie led the Skyhawks with 15 points each, while Mike Matthews scored 13 and Nick Tomsick 10.
The Skyhawks went 1-1 on the weekend after beating Colorado Christian 87-82 on Friday in Lakewood. They will return home to host Adams State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, then will host Western N.M. and N.M. Highlands the following weekend.
“Hopefully it was a game where we took a step back and we can really lean a lot from and get better,” Hofman said. “We’ve got to play a great team on Saturday so we better be ready.”
heraldsports@durangohearld.com
