Charged up by strong defensive play at the end of the second half and the dominant scoring ability of Riley Farris, Fort Lewis College stretched a slim lead to double digits going into the locker room.
Farris scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the first half, and FLC put together a stretch of inspired defense to take a 41-28 lead after 20 minutes Friday night inside Paul Wright Gymnasium in Gunnison. The 18-5 run to close the first half helped the Skyhawks secure a 88-74 victory at Western Colorado University to snap a three-game losing skid.
“I really thought we played well that stretch the last seven minutes of the first half to get our gap,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said. “The story of tonight’s game was the way we shared the basketball. I thought our team was really unselfish, made the extra pass and really played together. If I’m taking one thing away, it’s how well we played together tonight.”
Farris made 9-of-11 shots in the first half, including all three of his 3-point attempts. FLC (11-5, 5-5 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) would finish 13-of-24 from 3-point range in the game and shot 54.4% overall from the field in the victory.
“Riley was a monster tonight,” Pietrack said. “I thought even though he only had six points in the second half, I thought his second half was as good as his first the way he moved the ball. To get double-teamed like that and only have one turnover is incredible.”
It was the defense of FLC, which has been the problem for the Skyhawks in RMAC play so far this season, that Pietrack was encouraged about. His squad held Western Colorado (6-10, 3-7 RMAC) to 36.7% shooting in the first half and 45% overall for the game. The Mountaineers hit two early 3-pointers and finished 9-of-24 from 3 in the game.
FLC also outreboudned the Mountaineers 36-27 despite the effort of Monroe Porter, who had 20 rebounds in a win against New Mexico Highlands last week. Porter grabbed another 11 rebounds Friday night against FLC to go with eight points. Western Colorado was led by Matthew Ragsdale’s 24 points, as he made 6-of-9 from 3-point range. Cole Sienknecht added 17 points.
The Skyhawks would stretch their lead early in the second half with four consecutive made 3s. Danny Garrick got the party started. Logan Hokanson would follow and Junior Garbrah added another before Garrick connected again to make it 55-39 with 15:27 to play.
As the Mountaineers tried to hang in the game, FLC freshman guard Akuel Kot stepped up and scored four consecutive points to keep the FLC lead at 61-45 with 13 minutes to go. A pair of dunks by Brenden Boatwright helped make it a 20-point game at 65-45 with 12:32 to go.
Garbrah finished with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Garrick added 11 points and four rebounds. Hokanson had 10 points and a season-high nine assists. Boatwright finished with nine points and five rebounds. Will Wittman scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds. Pietrack also was happy with the play of Corey Seng off the bench.
“We had gone through a rut where we hadn’t shot great,” Pietrack said. “But the way we shared it tonight, that is Fort Lewis basketball. The way we played together was outstanding to see. Hokanson was the maestro of the whole thing with nine assists and only one turnover. That’s incredible.”
As Western Colorado tried to take away Farris with double and even triple teams, he kept finding the open man. He hit Garrick and Kot on back-to-back assisted 3s to give FLC a 21-point lead in the middle of the second half.
The Mountaineers would cut the deficit to 13 points behind a 9-2 run, but another big 3 from Garbrah off an assist from Hokanson maintained momentum for the Skyhawks with less than six minutes to play. Farris would add a tough jumper and followed it with a hard-fpight eighth rebound of the game, and that allowed Pietrack to rest him the game’s final four minutes in preparation of a rivalry showdown at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Colorado Mesa University.
The Mavericks (11-5, 7-3 RMAC) have won three in a row and are 8-0 at home inside Brownson Arena this season. The added 6-foot-10 center Ethan Richardson mid-year after he did not enroll at West Virginia in the fall after he had committed there in a transfer from Fresno Community College. The junior has played two games and averaged 16.5 points and seven rebounds so far for Mesa. He sat out Friday night’s 88-76 win against Adams State with the flu.
“It’s a hornet’s nest. That’s the best way to put it,” Pietrack said of playing Mesa on the road. “They got the Division I transfer at semester, and they might be the best team in our league now. We have to get to Grand Junction, get some rest and try to find a way to beat a really good team. They’ve got the longest home winning streak in our league and are really rolling right now. It’s an unreal, tough test, but we’re looking forward to playing them.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
