No. 1 Metro State never gave the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks a chance.
The Metro State Roadrunners (22-1, 19-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) led wire-to-wire en route to a 103-72 thumping of the Skyhawks (14-9, 11-8 RMAC) on Friday night in Denver.
“The bottom line is that they competed at a higher level than us from start to finish,” said FLC associate head coach Bob Pietrack. “They whipped us.”
Metro State, the top-ranked Division II team in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll, went on an 11-0 run to open the game before Nick Tomsick ended the bleeding with a 3-point basket four minutes into the game. FLC never gained any more ground as the Roadrunners ran away with the game.
It is the third consecutive loss for the Skyhawks, who fell last weekend in games at CSU-Pueblo and at UC-Colorado Springs.
Trailing 52-33 at halftime, the FLC coaches hoped to see their team compete stronger in the second half, but it didn’t happen.
“When you are down 19 to the No. 1 team, you just want to compete. The bottom line is we didn’t compete well enough to be in the game.”
Metro State senior guard Brandon Jefferson scored a game-high 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field. He also converted on 4-of-5 3-point attempts and 4-of-4 free throws.
“We just did not play well defensively, and they played well offensively. Jefferson, in particular, was very tough to guard,” Pietrack said.
Nicholas Kay and Mitch McCarron each scored 16 points for Metro State, while Harrison Goodrick also reached double figures with 13 points.
Metro State shot 51.4 percent from the field while FLC shot just 41.7 percent. The Roadrunners also won the rebounding battle 42-29.
Twenty-eight Metro State points came as a direct result of 17 FLC turnovers.
Senior center Alex Herrera led the Skyhawks with 18 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes of action. Tomsick finished with 14 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field while converting on 2-of-3 shots from 3-point range and 6-of-6 free throw attempts.
“Alex is a warrior and played as hard as he could,” Pietrack said.
Herrera also recorded one blocked shot, which tied his own team record for blocks in a single season set last year at 84. He is 14 blocks shy of tying Rich Hillyer’s career record of 208 blocked shots. His 194 career blocks rank third all time in the RMAC.
The RMAC standings are crowded in the four through eight positions. With three games remaining, every win is crucial as teams contend to host a home RMAC tournament game.
For FLC, that begins with a game against Regis (7-17, 4-15 RMAC). The Rangers have lost five consecutive games, including a 77-55 loss to Adams State on Friday. FLC defeated Regis 79-59 at home Jan. 17.
“We are still playing for a lot as far as the RMAC playoffs go. We gotta let this game go and get ready for (Regis),” Pietrack said. “They are capable and coached well, and we will have to play well to win.”
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