The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball offense has been a work in progress all year, with 13 of its 16 players not on last year’s Skyhawk roster. The work the coaches and players have put on that end looks to be paying off as FLC cruised to a 102-81 win at home Tuesday night against Adams State.
It was an easy game on the eyes for Skyhawk fans. The ball moved effortlessly to the open player. FLC finished with a season-high 22 assists as high-quality shots were taken all game and FLC made a season-high 32 free throws. While this was all happening on offense, the Skyhawks were still forcing turnovers and playing good defense in a high-paced game.
“We created shots for each other,” FLC head coach Jordan Mast said. “Early why it was close is we weren’t doing it as well. Credit to them, they started sharing the ball and they were really finding each other in specific actions that we practice which I really like.”
FLC improved to 15-7 overall and 9-4 in the RMAC after it shot 43% from the field, 37% from 3-point range and 82% from the free-throw line.
Freshman guard AJ Riggs finished with a career-high 22 points off the bench in only 18 minutes. Riggs was the beneficiary of a lot of great looks from his teammates and was always ready to catch and shoot. He finished 8-14 from the field, 5-10 from 3-point range and 1-2 from the free-throw line.
“I’m really grateful to be here because I’ve got such great teammates who were putting me in those spots,” Riggs said. “They were finding me, especially when they saw I was getting hot. They were looking for me and it’s a lot of fun to play here; guys are unselfish and that’s the kind of team I want to play for.”
Senior forward Chuol Deng finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for FLC. Senior guard Biko Johnson finished with 14 points and redshirt freshman guard Nathan Penney had 11 points.
Adams State fell to 8-13 overall and 3-10 in the RMAC after it shot 41% from the field, 16% from 3-point range and 85% from the free-throw line.
John Harge led the Grizzlies with 19 points on 7-13 shooting from the field, 1-4 from 3-point range and 4-4 from the free-throw line. Wyatt Helming had 18 points for Adams State.
Johnson continued his strong play from the MSU Denver game and scored eight of FLC’s first 16 points as the Skyhawks led 16-11 with 15:54 left in the first half. The Skyhawks stretched their lead to 24-14 with 12:30 left in the first. FLC was creating turnovers and forcing tough shots on defense.
Harge had one of the highlight plays of the year inside Whalen Gymnasium. Off a steal, he had a one-on-one with Deng in front of the basket. Harge rose Statue of Liberty-style with his right hand and slammed it home over Deng.
Harge was very aggressive and drove to the basket to draw some fouls. Harge knocked over FLC defenders like they were bowling pins and cut FLC’s lead to 26-22 with 10 minutes left.
The Skyhawks had a few sloppy turnovers, which stopped them from extending their lead in the middle of the first half. Harge continued to play very well and had 14 points in the first 11 minutes to keep Adams State within striking distance at 26-24.
“A lot of what we do is try and take away the other team’s best player,” Mast said. “We thought Tapia was that guy; he hit one early and we put a lot of attention toward him. So, sometimes the role guys, the ones who aren’t used to scoring a lot get those open looks. He (Harge) did a great job of attacking us and he really went at us. To their credit, he wasn’t really a part of our game plan.”
Junior guard Malachi Coleman responded to Harge’s dunk with his own poster in transition. There was a lot of contact without a foul. He was called for a technical for his stare down after.
Riggs had one of his best halves as a Skyhawk. He always seemed to be in the right spot for a 3-pointer and he also showed off the midrange. Riggs had 13 points in his first six minutes as FLC extended its lead to 40-29 with 3:40 left in the first.
FLC finished the first half strong by getting stops and rebounding the ball well on defense. The Skyhawks got into the bonus at the end of the half and cashed in from the free-throw line. FLC led 52-38 at the half.
Deng hit two 3-pointers early in the second half to get things rolling for FLC. After his second, Deng played beautiful defense on Harge; he walled up and blocked Harge’s shot. This led to a transition layup by redshirt freshman Stewart Erhart and the Skyhawks led 63-44 with 15:30 left.
The Skyhawks, specifically Riggs, continued to hit from beyond the arc. FLC did a great job of moving the ball and making decisive decisions with its passes. These passes found Riggs in the corner twice. His 3-pointer put FLC up 74-52 with 12:17 left.
FLC kept moving the ball well and got good looks to increase its lead. The Skyhawks led by as much as 25 and Mast subbed his bench in late for some valuable minutes.
The Skyhawks play at New Mexico Highlands on Saturday at 2 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
