Every time the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks climbed into contention, the Metro State Roadrunners pushed them back down.

Metro State, the No. 1 Division II team in the country, presented too much of a challenge for FLC on Friday night in the semifinal round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout. The Skyhawks hung close the entire game and trailed by only three points with 1 minute, 26 seconds to play, but the Roadrunners hit free throws and took advantage of FLC turnovers to secure a 77-73 win at home in the Auraria Event Center in Denver.

“We are just proud of the way we competed. Obviously, we wish the score would’ve been the other way around, but we competed at a high level and are proud of the guys,” FLC associate head coach Bob Pietrack said. “As a coaching staff, all you can ever ask for is 100-percent effort. We felt everybody gave it top to bottom, whether they played 40 minutes or zero minutes.”

Turnovers cost the Skyhawks (18-10, 14-9 RMAC) dearly Friday night. FLC turned the ball over 15 times, and Metro State (27-1, 23-0 RMAC) turned those into 24 points.

“They are the best team in the country in turning turnovers into points. We didn’t do a good enough job in that area,” Pietrack said of Metro State. “If we would’ve, maybe the outcome would’ve been different – credit to them for turning people over.”

FLC had the Metro State lead down to 71-68 with 1:26 to play after trailing 70-60 with 3:30 remaining. FLC senior guard Nick Tomsick heated up from 3-point range, and senior Mike Matthews hit two free throws to close the gap.

But RMAC Player of the Year Brandon Jefferson hit a big 3-point shot of his own, and a turnover by the Skyhawks saw the game slip out of their grasp.

Both teams shot 50 percent from the field in the game. The Skyhawks were 10-for-22 from 3-point range to Metro State’s 8-of-17 3-point shooting.

But it was the long-range shooting of Jefferson that hurt the Skyhawks. The Metro State senior guard hit 6-of-7 3-point attempts while scoring 20 points.

Metro State junior center Nicholas Kay also scored 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting.

The Skyhawks typically run a man-to-man defense, but head coach Bob Hofman had the team play a 1-2-2 zone defense to try to slow Jefferson and the Roadrunners. That helped Kay have a solid night down in the post, Pietrack said.

“We played a lot of 1-2-2 zone we hadn’t played a lot of. The middle was a little soft because of the attention Jefferson gets and deserves,” Pietrack said. “Kay is also an all-league player, and he made a lot of short shots; he was good.”

FLC was led by junior center Alex Herrera, who scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. He also had 10 rebounds and three blocks. He now is just one blocked shot shy of matching Rich Hillyer’s school record for 208 career blocked shots. Herrera will have to wait until his senior season to surpass that mark.

Tomsick was held without a point in the first half, but the senior captain led a charge in the second half to keep the Skyhawks in the game. He scored 17 points in the second half, but he never got to the free throw line in the game.

“They face-guarded Nick and made it hard on him to score early, but we have a lot of guys who can score. We had a balance,” Pietrack said.

Cade Kloster stepped up with 14 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting for the Skyhawks, showing he is poised to take over a leadership role next season.

“Cade has been playing very well the last month of the season. He played well (Friday) and will be a huge piece to our puzzle next year,” Pietrack said.

The Skyhawks now turn their focus to next season without seniors Oscar Garcia, Matthews, Wes McKenzie and Tomsick.

Pietrack has high expectations for the returning group next year.

“A tradition has been handed down over the 14 years Hofman has been back at Fort Lewis College, and I have been lucky enough to be part of it,” Pietrack said. “Each senior class always hands it down to the next year’s senior class. This is a great senior class, all of them. There will be a trickle-down effect, and we expect the same from those guys next year.

“It was a good year, and we are proud of the accomplishments we did have. We battled some adversity we normally don’t have. The seniors stuck together and have been great ’Hawks the whole way. We only wish we could’ve ended their careers with a win.”

Metro State will face UC-Colorado Springs in the RMAC Shootout championship game.

In the women’s RMAC Shootout, Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa advanced to the championship game.

Black Hills State, which defeated FLC in the quarterfinals, defeated CSU-Pueblo 63-53. Colorado Mesa, the No. 4-ranked team in the country, beat Regis 74-41 on the other side of the bracket.

heraldsports@durangoherald.com