With the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team rallying but still trailing late, JaQuaylon Mays shook his Black Hills State defender and sunk a step-back trey followed by an and-one free-throw to give the Skyhawks a 69-68 lead, erasing a 13-point deficit with 2:20 remaining.
Dunnell Stafford then made a layup and, after FLC forced a turnover, he assisted Mays on another 3-pointer to extend the Skyhawks’ lead to six. Akuel made a pair of late free throws and the No. 10/12 ranked Skyhawks beat No. 2/3 Black Hills for a second in the same week, 76-68, in a packed Donald E. Young Center on Friday in Spearfish, South Dakota.
The Skyhawks took sole possession of first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with the win and now stand at 23-2 overall, 17-2 RMAC. The Yellow Jackets fell to 22-3, 16-3.
“Sure, we made a few tough shots in the end, but our defense those final 10 minutes is what won us the game tonight,” said FLC Head Coach Bob Pietrack. “This is an all-time win for us. Not very often do you get to play the No. 2 team in the country on the road and add in the fact we also had to play them back-to-back. I’m really proud of our guys and the grit they showed tonight. Tonight was special, but we’ve got no time to enjoy it as we hit the road and prepare for (South Dakota Mines) tomorrow night.”
FLC took an early 7-2 lead after a Brendan La Rose three, a Stafford jumper and a pair of Kot free throws. The Yellow Jackets then went on a 14-point run, capped off with an Adam Moussa trey to take the 16-7 lead.
From then on Black Hills State maintained a nearly double-digit lead for the remainder of the opening half and went into the break leading 39-32.
Timely defense and a series of missed shots by the Yellow Jackets allowed FLC to tie the game at 45-45 on a Mays trey near the top of the arc. Black Hills State then pounded the post, and a Scott layup with 7:53 left put BHSU on top, 62-51.
As time dwindled FLC slowly chipped away at the lead.
After Matthew Ragsdale found the basket underneath after spinning off his defender give BHSU a five-point lead, 68-63, with 4:23 remaining.
Mays responded with a quick layup of his own to cut the deficit to three.
On the following possession, Mays tied the game and then got FLC the lead when he sunk a clutch three while getting fouled and added a free throw. The Skyhawks kept the Yellow Jackets from scoring in the final 4:09 of the game, meanwhile, to move into first place in the conference standings.
Mays led the Skyhawks with 26 points and nine rebounds while also nabbing two steals. Kot supplied 21 points and four steals while Stafford added 10 points. Moussa scored 18 to lead BHSU.
Facing one of the league's top teams for the second time in five days, the FLC women’s basketball team fell to Black Hills a second time, 70-48, on Friday.
Avery Evans scored 14 points to lead FLC (9-16, 6-12 RMAC). Kate Gallery added seven and Sadie Misner six.
Danica Kocer scored 14 to lead BHSU (19-6, 14-5).
