On Saturday, the Fort Lewis College basketball programs had opposite nights on the offensive end against Black Hills State at home. The men scored 82 points in a comeback 82-73 win over Black Hills State. The women scored a season-low 43 points in their 61-43 loss against the Yellow Jackets.
FLC men’s hoops improved to 11-6 overall and 5-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after it shot 44% from the field, 39% from 3-point range and 78% from the free-throw line.
Senior forward Chuol Deng led FLC with 20 points on 5-11 shooting from the field, 2-3 from 3-point range and 8-8 from the free-throw line with seven rebounds. Senior guard Biko Johnson finished with 19 points on 3-14 shooting from the field, 2-7 from 3-point range and 11-13 from the free-throw line. Fifth year guard Tru Allen added 15 points after missing the South Dakota Mines game on Thursday with a hamstring issue.
“Credit to the guys really locking in the second half,” FLC men’s basketball head coach Jordan Mast said. “When you allowed seven more threes the rest of the game and they only made two, that was the key. The ball started falling in for us. But the whole game we actually were getting pretty good shots. Our defense was a little more in tune in the second half.”
Black Hills State fell to 9-7 overall and 5-3 in the RMAC after the Yellow Jackets shot 48% from the field, 41% from the 3-point line and 53% from the foul line.
Caelin Hearne led the Yellow Jackets with 17 points on 5-9 shooting from the field, 2-3 from the 3-point range and 5-8 from the free-throw line.
Former Skyhawk Tristan Hurdle had 12 points off the bench for Black Hills State and finished 4-6 from the field and 4-5 from 3-point range. Hurdle averaged 4.9 points per game and shot 48% from the field for FLC’s 2023-2024 squad that went 29-4.
The Skyhawks were within six points of the Yellow Jackets in the first half before Dawson Mohr hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to put Black Hills State up 36-29 at half.
FLC took its first lead of the second half with a layup by redshirt freshman guard Stewart Erhart and the Skyhawks led 53-52 with 9:21 left.
For the final nine minutes, FLC led by a close margin until Johnson hit a 3-pointer to put FLC up 80-73 with 19 seconds left to seal the game.
The Skyhawks women’s hoops team fell to 5-11 overall and 2-6 in the RMAC after the Skyhawks shot 28% from the field, 5% from 3-point range and 89% from the free-throw line in the loss. FLC’s 43 points, field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage were season lows.
“Today was a really tough day for us offensively, not from a lack of effort,” FLC women’s basketball head coach Lauren Zuniga said. “We played hard, but unfortunately, we weren’t effective enough to give ourselves a chance to be in the game. I’m proud of our defense; we forced 18 turnovers. But it just wasn’t enough.”
Senior forward Darla Hernandez had 10 points on 5-16 shooting from the field and 0-2 from 3-point range for FLC.
Black Hills State improved to 11-4 overall and 7-1 in the RMAC after it shot 42% from the field, 29% from the 3-point range and 64% from the free-throw line. Morgan Hammerbeck led the Yellow Jackets with 22 points on 9-14 shooting from the field, 1-5 from 3-point range and 3-4 from the free-throw line.
FLC started the game only down 10-6 after the first quarter. But Black Hills State pulled away in the second and led 30-16 at halftime. Zuniga said the Yellow Jackets got too many second-chance points during this time and FLC couldn’t get the stops it needed.
The Skyhawks trailed 42-29 after three quarters. Zuniga said she was happy with her team’s shot selection and they’re shots the team usually makes in games.
Junior guard Deniece Ryan was limited to only five minutes due to illness. Junior Kayde Strauss missed the game due to illness.
FLC women’s basketball plays at Colorado Christian on Thursday at 6 p.m. The men play at Colorado Christian at 8 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com