Fort Lewis College didn’t mess around in its final half before an NCAA mandated holiday break.
The NCAA Division II No. 15 Skyhawks took a 40-31 halftime lead and turned it into a 104-59 victory against NAIA Northern New Mexico at home Monday in Whalen Gymnasium in Durango.
FLC (9-2, 5-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) shot 66 percent in the second half and had seven players finish in double-digit scoring for the second consecutive home game in the win.
For FLC, it was a good response after a tough 90-75 loss at Westminster College last Friday in Salt Lake City. FLC wrapped up a stretch of five games in 11 days with a 4-1 record and two overtime victories at home.
“I thought we were pretty tired,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said. “We ran out of gas in Utah. This game coming in the middle of the league season, it’s not like the guys were super excited to play the game. No disrespect to Northern New Mexico. We struggled a bit, and the worst thing that could’ve happened for them was once we realized we had to play a bit and realized we had to turn it on.
“Five games in 11 days with finals thrown in there is asking a lot of the young men.”
Collin Weaver was solid for Fort Lewis in 16 minutes off the bench. The University of Nevada transfer appeared in only his third game of the season as he deals with knee tendinitis, but he scored 12 points, had four assists and four rebounds.
“We need him,” Pietrack said of Weaver. “He brings a lot of energy and defensive toughness the team can rely on. He played a big 15 minutes. The highlight of the game was that Weaver got to play. Him getting in rhythm, it’s hard to do in a league game. To do it in a non-league game sets him up to contribute going into the league season.” Marquel Beasley scored a game-high 18 points. He had a double-double with 13 rebounds to go with the points. He also had three steals and two blocked shots.
Rasmus Bach led the Skyhawks with 17 points. He added four rebounds and three assists. Mike Ranson, a Northern Colorado transfer, came off the bench to score 15 points. DJ Miles, another former UNC Bear, had 12 points, four assists and three rebounds. Riley Farris added 11 points, five blocked shots, three assists and three rebounds.
Daniel Hernandez added 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.
Northern New Mexico had only one played in double-digit scoring, as Tyrique Weaver scored 10 points.
FLC shot 50.8 percent for the game. Pietrack would like to see a better free-throw shooting performance than FLC’S 27-of-41 showing, but a 13-of-27 performance from behind the 3-point line was welcomed. And the Skyhawks held Northern New Mexico (5-10) to only 2-of-20 shooting from 3.
Brandon Wilson, FLC’s starting center, played only three minutes after he suffered a mild knee sprain Sunday in practice. Pietrack said he will be ready to play when FLC faces Chadron State at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 29.
FLC is in a four-way tie atop the RMAC standings with a 5-1 conference record.
“The NCAA mandates we take off Dec. 20-26,” Pietrack said. “Last week’s game in Utah landed on a Friday, and I thought it was too long of a break and too many days, so we played this game with Northern New Mexico. That gives us eight days off instead of 11, which is a big difference. We play the 29th, come back to practice the 27th and have to be ready to go against Chadron.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
