In a game that saw 45 personal fouls and three technicals assessed, the Adams State Grizzlies from Alamosa picked up a 90-79 road win at Fort Lewis College on Friday night to clinch the final spot in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.
Fort Lewis College men’s basketball ended the season with a 12-16 record and 7-15 mark in RMAC play to miss the RMAC tournament for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
“This is brutal,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said after he completed his fourth year at the helm. “That’s the best way to put it. We are proud of the way the guys dealt with adversity. Boy, we sure did have a lot of adversity. I felt the team played as hard as they could for as long as they could. When you keep facing tough adversity, it makes you closer. We just didn’t have season we hoped for.”
Adams State improved to 11-16 overall and 11-11 in the RMAC. The Grizzlies made 26-of-36 free throws and shot 50.9 percent in the game to secure the win. John Dewey finished with 25 points, with 11-of-12 made at the foul line. Davere Creighton added 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Justice Augmon and Rickey Norris each had 13 points.
On senior night, it was the three Fort Lewis College seniors who led the Skyhawks one last time, just as they had done all season. Marquel Beasley finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds.
“I just wanted to get the fans a show, my teammates a show, have fun with them for the last time and bring energy like always,” Beasley said. “Cherish the moments and be thankful for the opportunity.”
Alex Semadeni added 19 points and six rebounds. He was a five-year FLC player out of high school in Fort Collins. He won two RMAC regular-season championships and an RMAC tournament title in 2016 and helped FLC to three consecutive NCAA South Central regional tournament appearances.
“It hasn’t really hit me,” Semadeni said of playing his last game. “It will hit me next week when there’s nothing to do, no practice and not seeing the guys every day.”
Otas Iyekekpolor had 16 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. He was a senior transfer from Division I Central Arkansas and said his nine months in Durango were worth it despite the losing season.
“My best basketball came here,” he said. “I improved here, showcased everything I can do and just learned from my coaches and teammates. I got better as a basketball player, traveled and saw the mountains and enjoyed my time. It was well spent.”
FLC couldn’t do enough around the seniors, as it shot only 35.7 percent from the floor in the game and combined for only 12 rebounds, while the seniors grabbed 25.
The Skyhawks withstood runs of 13-2 and 13-0 in the first half by the Grizzlies but still trailed 43-34 at halftime.
Dewey picked up a technical in the opening 30 seconds of the half, and Semadeni made a pair of free throws. The teams exchanged dunks from Shemar Johnson and Beasley, but the home crowd for FLC was dead quiet.
Big plays by Iyekekpolor had FLC within four points at 61-57 with 11:56 to play.
But Norris hit a wild 3-point shot that sparked another Adams State run to go up 70-59.
Semadeni hit a corner 3 to get FLC within five points once more, but Iyekekpolor was assessed a technical foul after he questioned a hand-check call against Dewey, who went to the line and made four free throws to extend the Adams State lead to 75-66.
The seniors continued to fight down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough, and the Grizzlies made all the big free throws late.
FLC was hurt during the season by the injury to junior forward Riley Farris, who had shoulder surgery. Two scholarship guards also left the program, and the team was largely without star redshirt freshman forward Brenden Boatwright in the season finale as he battled a migraine.
Now, FLC will go into a tough rebuilding offseason, though it already has three stellar recruits committed with a pair of standout freshmen guards and a small forward from Senegal.
“Now, we go back to drawing board and figure out how to get our program back on top of the RMAC,” Pietrack said.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
