Fort Lewis College men’s basketball achieved its goal of dominating the paint just enough to hold off Colorado School of Mines’ second-half rally and win, 78-70, at home on Thursday night.
The Skyhawks were finishing the paint with ease with a 17-point lead early in the second half. But the Orediggers had the counter with a five-out look with quality 3-point shooters all over the floor. CSM rallied back by breaking FLC’s press and hitting 3-pointers to tie the game late. FLC had the final say with strong defense, paint scoring and free-throw shooting to stay undefeated in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
“Tonight, I’m very pleased and proud of these guys,” FLC head coach Jordan Mast said. “We had a focus on winning the battle in the paint, and we won it by over 20. That's a team that can shoot it, but they pride themselves on paint points, and we did a great job owning the paint tonight.”
FLC improved to 13-5 overall and 11-0 in the RMAC after it shot 43% from the field, 20% from 3-point range and 84% from the free-throw line. The Skyhawks are off to their best start in conference play in program history and have won eight consecutive games.
The Skyhawks scored 48 points in the paint, compared to only 24 for the Orediggers. One of the main reasons FLC could do that was senior forward Massal Diouf. He used his size to be ultraefficient in the paint, finishing with a season-high 15 points on 7-8 shooting from the field and 1-1 from the free-throw line. It’s the first time Diouf has scored in double figures in two months.
Redshirt sophomore Stewart Erhart added 15 points on 3-10 shooting from the field, 1-1 from 3-point range and 8-8 from the free-throw line.
CSM dropped to 11-11 overall and 7-4 in the RMAC after it shot 41% from the field, 33% from 3-point range and 67% from the free-throw line. Playing without their top player, Markus Pastorcic-Straun, who was out with an injury, Jonathan Moore led the Orediggers with 17 points on 7-10 shooting from the field, 3-6 from 3-point range and 10 rebounds.
The Skyhawks struggled with turnovers in transition, leading to a 12-5 Oredigger lead early in the first half
FLC quickly stopped its turnover problem and the Orediggers stopped making their 3-pointers. FLC continued to have great success inside. Senior forward Florence slipped from a pick and roll, and Erhart found him for an open slam. CSM really started to struggle with turnovers, and a 3-pointer by Erhart gave FLC an 18-15 lead with 11:50 left.
Colorado School of Mines was really living and dying by the 3-point line in the middle of the first half to the advantage of FLC. The Skyhawks’ finishing inside continued to be stellar, and a Diouf layup gave the Skyhawks a 27-21 lead with 7:40 left in the first half.
“Mines is going to play you one-on-one and say, ‘we’re tougher than you,”’ Mast said. “Our goal was to show that we can be tougher than them; we did not shy away from it. Teams get in trouble against them because they go away from the post because they’re so physical.”
The Orediggers kept themselves in the game with their bigs’ 3-point shooting. CSM’s bigs can really shoot it, creating a true five-out look on offense that causes problems when FLC is late on its rotations off the press. FLC finished the first half on a nice 5-0 spurt for a 43-35 lead.
FLC’s paint points continued to pile up to start the second half. Diouf was having one of his better games on offense for FLC. He’s such a big force inside, but has sometimes struggled to finish. He finished early in the second half with a dunk off a great pick-and-roll pass from Erhart.
“He brought the mentality that he’s not just going to be big in there; he’s going to score,” Mast said about Diouf. “That’s something we knew we could improve on … he showed how good he can be.”
CSM’s turnover struggles didn’t go away to start the second half. Balls were constantly getting tipped, stripped and thrown out of bounds. Bangham Jr. had a breakaway slam, and Smith made a 3-pointer off a turnover as the Skyhawks expanded their lead to 58-41 with 15:10 left.
Just as FLC looked like it was going to put the game away, the Skyhawks’ offense went cold. Smith got a little shot happy from outside, and FLC missed at the line. CSM went on a 10-0 run to cut FLC’s lead to 58-51 with 12:20 left.
CSM found some holes in the FLC defense and wasn’t turning the ball over as much. The Orediggers were getting good looks at the rim and from 3-point range. CSM cut the deficit to 64-61 with 7:05 left, and tied the game at 68 with a 3-pointer with 4:20 left.
“Our pressure wasn't great,” Mast said. “They were hitting the short roll, and we were late to rotation. They're such a good passing team that if you're late, they're going to carve you up and make the right read.”
The Skyhawks responded with two baskets inside for a four-point lead. FLC’s defensive efforts ramped up and looked like they did early in the first half, forcing some tough shots out of the Orediggers. CSM had the ball down two with 45 seconds left, but turned the ball over to Florence. Erhart got to the line and finished the game off by hitting six free throws in the last 30 seconds.
FLC will stay home to play MSU Denver on Saturday at 3 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
