Two big rallies at the end of each half weren’t enough for the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team.
Sparked by star Marquel Beasley, FLC got within 45-41 at halftime at Metro State University-Denver on Friday night at the Auraria Event Center in Denver. But the Roadrunners (6-4, 4-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) raced out to an 18-point lead in the second half at 63-45 with 11:52 to play to effectively put away a streaky Skyhawks team.
FLC (6-6, 1-5 RMAC) got within six points at 73-67 in the final minute, but the Skyhawks came up empty in two key possessions in the final 45 seconds, and Metro State held on for a 77-67 victory.
Beasley was quiet early but scored 10 points in the final six minutes of the first half to give FLC life. But he fouled out with 3 minutes, 17 seconds to go in the game with a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds.
One game after FLC scored 100 points and shot better than 60 percent from the floor against Northern New Mexico, the Skyhawks shot only 35.9 percent and were only 4-of-23 from 3-point range. Metro State made 7-of-15 shots from 3.
“We just didn’t make enough shots to win,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said. “You can’t shoot 4-of-23 from 3 on the road and think you’re gonna win any game, or get outrebounded.”
Otas Iyekekpolor had 13 points and seven rebounds for FLC, while Kireed Johnson scored 11 points.
Metro State won its fifth consecutive game behind 18 points and five rebounds each from Druce Asah and Garrett Carter. Asah’s 3-point shooting in the first half hurt FLC. Big man Kendall McIntosh added 13 points and eight rebounds.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” McIntosh said in a postgame interview. “We knew if they were on a run we had to hone in and put the fire out and we did that. ... Our confidence level is high. We don’t feel like we should lose to any team.”
Rebounding killed the Skyhawks again, as the Roadrunners won the battle of the boards 48-28. FLC went 17-of-27 at the foul line, and Metro State made 20-of-29.
“Foul trouble the entire first half hurt us with multiple players,” Pietrack said. “We tried to play small and didn’t rebound well enough out of it to do anything.”
FLC got the ball back after a referee review on a loose ball with 44.9 seconds to go. Cesar Molina, who had helped get FLC back into the game late with two baskets, couldn’t make a deep 3 to cut the deficit to three points, and FLC was forced to send the Roadrunners to the foul line.
Now, FLC will have a long drive to Nebraska to face the tough Chadron State Eagles (6-6, 4-2 RMAC) that already beat Metro State this year. FLC will arrive around 4 a.m. and play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Life is hard on the road,” Pietrack said. “We have no excuses in our program. We will play the game.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
