The Fort Lewis College men and women’s basketball teams are off to strong starts, and both teams will be at home for a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference showdowns this week on Friday and Saturday.
The FLC men won their first 10 games of the season before slow start on the road helped Westminster College hand the Skyhawks their first loss, 93-79, on Dec. 17.
Four Skyhawks are averaging 10 points or more per game while Obi Agbim is averaging 9.5. Akuel Kot has been the team’s leading scorer so far this season with 297 points already, including 32 three-pointers, for an average of 27.0 points per game. Brenden Boatwright is averaging 11.1 while JaQuaylon Mays and Junior Garbrah are both averaging 10.5.
The Skyhawks (10-1, 4-1 RMAC) will return to the court at 5 p.m. Friday, following the women’s game, to play South Dakota Mines (4-8, 3-3). The next night, FLC men will have their toughest test yet when they welcome the No. 3-ranked team in the nation and defending conference champs Black Hills State (11-0, 5-0), to Whalen. FLC is ranked No. 15 by the NABC coaches.
FLC is currently third in the RMAC standings, trailing Black Hills and Colorado School of Mines (11-1, 5-1). Mines’ loss was to Black Hills in overtime, 85-77.
The Skyhawks lead the conference in scoring, averaging 89.4 points per game, followed by Colorado Mines (82.7) and Black Hills (82.0). Black Hills, however, has only allowed 65.5 points per game on defense, which leads the league. FLC has given up an average of 75.6 points per game, which ranks ninth in the conference.
In the women’s standings, Colorado Mines is first (10-1, 6-0) and Black Hills is second (9-2, 4-1). Fort Lewis is right in the middle of the standings, sitting eighth out of the 15 teams with a 5-6, 2-3 mark that already more than doubled the team’s win total from last year.
In their last game against Westminster, four different Skyhawks scored in double digits to help FLC take down the Griffins, 63-62. Kaitlyn Bell led the team with 18 points, Alyssa Adams added 14 points all scored in the second half, Lanae Billy scored 14 and Avery Evans chipped in 13.
It was Billy’s 10th double digit game this season. The freshman leads the team with 16.5 points per game, followed by Kelsey Sorenson with 12.8.
The Hardrockers (1-11, 1-5) will enter Whalen at the bottom of the conference standings.
