Three weeks after dropping out of the top 25, the Skyhawks are ranked as high as they’ve been all season.
When the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team slipped outside the NCAA Division II National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll on Jan. 10, it marked the first time in 19 weeks the program was outside the top 25. That happened after FLC lost two of its final three games of a brutal stretch of schedule with seven out of eight games coming on the road around the holidays.
Since those losses to Regis and Metro State, the Skyhawks (18-3, 13-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) have started a new six-game win streak and have pushed their record home winning streak to 28 games. Now, the Skyhawks are No. 14 in the national poll, it’s best position of the season after entering at No. 15 in the preseason poll.
“There are 350 Division II basketball teams, which makes it extremely hard to be ranked,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack told The Durango Herald. “We don’t take being nationally ranked for granted. It’s something we know that we have to earn each weekend.”
FLC has the ninth-ranked scoring offense in Division II at 90.5 points per game. Yet the Skyhawks don’t have an individual in the top 70 in points per game, with Joshua Blaylock 73rd and Rasmus Bach 75th each with 19 points per game leading a squad that epitomizes team basketball.
The Skyhawks find the open shot, evidence in a 52.7 percent shooting performance this year from the field. That number ranks fourth in the nation right behind the 52.9 percent of Bellamine in Kentucky.
Pietrack also pointed out his team is 14th in the nation in assists at 17.8 per game.
FLC has another tough road trip this weekend at New Mexico Highlands on Friday and a quick turnaround Saturday to face a CSU-Pueblo team the Skyhawks beat in overtime in the RMAC opener Dec. 2 in Durango.
Colorado Mines (18-3, 13-2 RMAC) is tied with Fort Lewis for first in the conference and is now ranked No. 19. The two teams will meet Feb. 17 in Durango in the first and only meeting of the powers in the regular season.
Women’s BasketballThe Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team will face one of the toughest teams in the nation Saturday.
Colorado State University-Pueblo moved up to No. 3 in the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Poll Tuesday. The ThunderWolves are 21-0 overall and 15-0 in the RMAC.
First up for the Skyhawks (15-5, 10-5 RMAC) is a trip to New Mexico Highlands (2-17, 1-14 RMAC) on Friday. Then FLC can turn its attention to an upset bid of the third-ranked team that beat FLC 79-56 in the conference opener Dec. 2 in Durango.
SoftballThe coaches of the RMAC don’t expect a breakout season for the Fort Lewis College softball team.
In the preseason coaches poll released Tuesday, the Skyhawks were picked to finish 10th out of 12 teams. A year ago, FLC finished 15-32 overall and 9-25 in conference play. Only one team fared worse, Black Hills State. The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish last again this year.
Colorado Mesa was selected the preseason favorite with eight first-place votes after a 40-13 season a year ago that included a regular season conference championship at 35-3.
Conference tournament champion Metro State was picked second with four first-place votes, and Chadron State came in third.
FLC had one player selected to the Preseason All-RMAC team in senior Tehenia Telliano of Reno, Nevada. She was selected as a utility player after posting a .396 batting average a year ago. She started 16 games.
First pitch of the 2017 season is fast approaching Feb. 10-12 with games at the West Texas A&M Invitational.
FLC will play its entire home schedule at the Aztec Tiger Sports Complex in Aztec, New Mexico, this season while the home field undergoes a renovation project.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
