March Madness is here, but unfortunately for Skyhawks fans, neither Fort Lewis College basketball team is still playing.
So why aren’t the FLC basketball teams still playing? A good way to answer that question is to look back at each team’s statistical strengths and weaknesses.
The Skyhawks men finished an injury-riddled season 18-11 overall and 15-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, good for fourth place and the No. 4 seed going into the RMAC tournament. FLC won its quarterfinal game, but lost to No. 1 Black Hills State in the RMAC tournament semifinals, ending the Skyhawks’ season.
FLC women’s basketball improved significantly, winning 13 more games against Division II opponents this season, finishing 18-11 overall and 11-9 in the RMAC. The Skyhawks made the RMAC tournament for the first time since 2018 and lost in the first round to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
With both teams done, here are the key statistical categories the Skyhawks thrived in and struggled in, compared to the rest of the RMAC, to help explain each team’s season outcome:
Scoring
The Skyhawks did a great job scoring the ball this season, finishing fourth in the RMAC with 82.0 points per game.
One of the big reasons FLC scored so much was its defense. The Skyhawks were one of the best teams in Division II in steals, which led to a lot of fast-break opportunities against unsettled defense.
When the Skyhawks’ offense was in the half-court, they had plenty of options to score throughout the year. Redshirt sophomore guard Stewart Erhart could score from behind the arc or finish inside. Redshirt sophomore guard Jaxon Smith was a fantastic shooter, and senior forward Cassius Carmichael was a good driver and finisher. Fifth-year forward Chuol Deng was a mismatch on the wing with his size, shooting ability and speed. Senior forward Massal Diouf could post up and use his large frame to carve out space to finish.
FLC only scored less than 75 points three times this season, and the Skyhawks scored more than 90 points four times. FLC’s scoring could’ve been even higher this year if it wasn’t for injuries to guards Jude Tapia, Yorgio Golesis and Daniel Steverson.
Opponent field goal percentage
The Skyhawks’ pressing defense really sped up opponents and forced them into bad shots. FLC’s pressing defense forced teams to take more time getting the ball into the frontcourt and into their actions, leaving less time on the shot clock to get a good look.
When teams did get into the frontcourt, the Skyhawks had great length on the wings with Carmichael and Deng and good size inside with Diouf.
FLC’s opponents shot 42.9% from the field, which was the third-best mark in the conference. The Skyhawks held 11 teams to under 40% shooting this season.
Since the Skyhawks will be losing Deng, Carmichael, senior forward Keither Florence and Diouf to graduation, there will be a lot of questions head coach Jordan Mast will have to answer about his interior defense next season.
Offensive rebounds
One of Mast’s objectives in the offseason was to have a stronger and bigger team. He did that, and the Skyhawks finished first in the conference with 13.7 offensive rebounds per game.
The Skyhawks had a lot of size inside, ready to crash the offensive glass with 6-foot-9-inch, 245-pound Diouf and 6-foot-7-inch Deng. FLC’s guards got in on the act as well, crashing the glass to pick up offensive rebounds close to the basket and out toward the 3-point line.
It’ll be interesting to see if FLC values bulk inside with its bigs next year or agility and speed with its pressing defense.
Steals
There’s not much of a surprise with this category. The Skyhawks are thieves on the hardwood, easily leading the conference with 12.34 steals per game.
The pressing defense FLC plays creates plenty of opportunities to jump passing lanes, swipe the ball away and trap players with a double-team. Erhart led Division II and the conference with 3.7 steals per game. His hands are always active, and he seems like he has Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak with the way he sneaked up on defenders. The same goes for Carmichael, who finished second in the RMAC in steals with 2.7 SPG.
Part of Mast’s identity as a coach is playing that pressing style, so it’s likely that FLC is at or near the top of this category for the foreseeable future.
Field goal percentage
The Skyhawks scored a lot because of their pace, but they usually didn’t score efficiently. FLC finished 13th out of 15 schools in the RMAC with a 44.4% team field goal percentage.
FLC’s shooting struggles can be attributed to a few things. One is injuries. FLC had players in and out of the lineup all season, making it hard to build continuity and learn what everyone’s roles are on offense.
Another reason is the lack of passing. FLC struggled to pass the ball all season, and that got worse once Golesis went down with a season-ending injury. When he went down, FLC lost its lone pass-first guard. The Skyhawks struggled to run sets against good defenses without the ball movement, resulting in poor isolation basketball.
Three-point shooting
The Skyhawks’ roster construction was a little old-school when it came to outside shooting and it showed. FLC finished 14th in the conference with a 32.5% mark from 3-point range and 14th with 6.5 3-pointers per game.
FLC had two very good outside shooters in Smith and Erhart, but in an era of basketball where a lot of teams can have four to five shooters on the floor, FLC had a lot of non-shooters. Golesis, Carmichael, Diouf, freshman Trey Curry and Florence didn’t take them, and Deng and junior Donald Bangham Jr. took them, but weren’t efficient.
Smith, Erhart and freshman guard Tate Ziemkiewicz were the only players to shoot above 31% from 3-point range. Not good.
Shooting must be an emphasis for the Skyhawks in the offseason.
Free throws
Two plus two equals four, just as a bad 3-point shooting team usually equals a bad free-throw shooting team and that was the case for FLC, finishing 12th in the conference with a 70.4 free-throw percentage.
Smith was one of the best free-throw shooters in the country at 94%, but FLC had five rotation players shoot less than 60% for the year. Those misses at the charity stripe cost FLC some games.
Assists
FLC struggled to move the ball all season, finishing 14th in the conference with 12.79 assists per game. The Skyhawks had some talented one-on-one players in Deng and Erhart, but the lack of ball movement led to slow starts and scoreless stretches that allowed opponents to finish the game victorious.
Luckily for Skyhawks fans, FLC should be getting its best distributors back from injury next season.
Offensive rebounds
The Skyhawks got a lot longer and stronger in the offseason, which allowed them to finish third in the conference with 13.1 offensive rebounds per game.
Freshman forward Alemaualii Fonoti was a beast inside, using her strong frame to collect her own and her teammates’ misses. The Skyhawks also had a fantastic rebounding guard in freshman Josie Davis. It was a true team effort on the boards all season.
The Skyhawks should continue to be strong on the offensive glass next season as they should return 86% of their rebounding.
Steals
The Skyhawks easily led the conference with 13.10 steals per game. FLC had a lot of length and size at all the positions, but this statistic really comes down to how hard FLC plays.
Head coach Lauren Zuniga got her team to buy-in to the pressure and continuity on the defensive end needed to steal the ball that much. Zuniga also used a pretty deep rotation, which helps keep her team fresh on the defensive end. It was impressive to see, considering the Skyhawks won five Division II games the year before and finished last in the conference.
Free throws
The Skyhawks really struggled at the free-throw line this season, finishing last in the conference at 64.1%.
One of the main reasons for this was Fonoti. The freshman forward got to the line the most for the Skyhawks, but was only 55% from the free-throw line.
There were plenty of games where the free-throw struggles were contagious, with the Skyhawks shooting below 60% from the charity stripe in nine games this season. Interestingly enough, the Skyhawks went 6-3 in those games.
Assist to turnover ratio
FLC was a decent passing team in the RMAC, finishing fifth in the conference in assists, but it was either feast or famine, with the Skyhawks finishing 12th in the conference with a 0.70 assist-to-turnover ratio.
One of the main reasons for this is the change in point guard. Sophomore Claudia Palacio Gámez started as the team’s playmaker for the first time this season, and she had her moments when she was learning on the job and turning the ball over. She also had some fantastic plays for her teammates.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
