Another 30-point game for Alex Herrera, another win for the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks.
The FLC men’s basketball team picked up its sixth consecutive win Friday night – 78-70 at Regis in Denver. Senior Alex Herrera, the 6-foot-9 center from Ignacio, led the Skyhawks with 30 points and 12 rebounds. He shot 11-of-15 from the floor and 8-of-12 from the free-throw line.
“He’s the ultimate workhorse. He’s a dominant, All-American,” FLC associate head coach Bob Pietrack said of Herrera. “Credit to his teammates for getting him the ball in good spots and feeding him when he needed to get fed.”
FLC (13-3, 8-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) trailed early in the game, going down 21-14 after an 8-0 Regis run with 7 minutes, 55 seconds to play in the first half. But FLC closed the gap, and a 3-pointer by Austin Haldorson with 5 seconds remaining in the half sent the Skyhawks into the locker room with a 36-32 advantage.
“We started 2-of-7 from the free-throw line and only missed 10 for the game. We really made a ton after that,” Pietrack said. “We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, and we credit Regis for the way they defended the perimeter, and that’s one of the reasons Alex was open.
“It was a slow start, but we rallied back from it.”
Will Morse stepped up with 12 big points for FLC, and Cade Kloster added 14. FLC shot 44.4 percent from the field and made only 3-of-14 shots from 3. Regis shot 46.6 percent and made 7-of-20 3-pointers.
“We had stretches where we played very good defensively. It’s still a work in progress, and we have to take flashes out of what we showed and keep building it,” Pietrack said.
FLC committed only eight turnovers in the game while scoring 20 points off 12 Regis giveaways.
Brett Hartshorne scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, and Roberto Reyes added 14 points for the Rangers. Dexter Sienko also scored 10 for Regis.
FLC’s bench was outscored 39-11, but Lucas Archuleta stepped up with seven points and four rebounds for FLC off the bench.
The Skyhawks will take their winning streak to Metro State for a big RMAC clash Saturday night. The Roadrunners also are 13-3 and 8-2 in the RMAC and survived an 84-80 scare from Adams State on Friday night.
Herrera will go toe-to-toe with Metro State center Nicholas Kay, who scored 24 points Friday.
“We respect Metro tremendously and have a wonderful rivalry with them. We look forward to continuing it,” Pietrack said. “The games are always heated but clean, and we enjoy the competition.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
