The home crowd was rocking and the home team was flying as the Fort Lewis College Men’s basketball team won both of their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference home openers this weekend with victories against the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks on Friday and the Western State University Mountaineers on Saturday in overtime.

 

Friday: FLC puts down the Mavericks, 96-80.  

 

It was essentially a shooting clinic by both the Skyhawks and the Mavs at Whalen Gymnasium. In the first half of the matchup, CMU shot 58.3 percent from the field and FLC shot 50 percent.

 

Moreover, the Skyhawks looked like they were going to kill the Mavs and put them away early on in the game as they started the game 5-5 from the field and on a 15-5 run. Senior guard Daniel Hernandez converted a four-point play for the Skyhawks on the very first shot attempt of the game.

 

Senior forward Rasmus Bach was feeling himself early. With game tied at 15, Bach made a step-back jumper, turned to the crowd and mouthed the words, “Ooooooo, that felt good.”

 

Nevertheless, the first half was make the shot or fall behind kind of affair.

 

The difference in this matchup was the shooting in the second half and the crowd noise that really affected the way that Mesa was trying to play.

 

As the game went on, the Skyhawks got better and the Mavs got worse. In the second half, the Mavs shot just 38.9 percent from the field, while the Skyhawks shot 62.5 percent from the field.

 

“In the second half we just came out and said, ‘hey nothin easy for them’ because we let them get in too much of a rhythm in the first half,” Bach said.

 

FLC’s defense stepped up and so did the deep bench of the Skyhawks. First year Skyhawk, transfer senior guard DJ Miles, played huge in this one and was the leading scorer on the night for both teams as he ended with 24 and was 5-6 from downtown.
 

“We just shoot good in this gym,” Hernandez said. “We are just comfortable here and our home crowd was just amazing today.”

 

That speaks to a bigger point. For a long time here at FLC, the crowds were not huge and the team had to manufacture ways for a crowd to get in the seats.

 

“I love it and you saw me at the end giving a thumbs up to some of those guys that have been here since I was a freshman,” Bach said. “It makes us want to play harder when you see those guys come out and support us.”

 

When the final horn bellowed and head coach Bob Pietrack started putting on his jacket, the final score was 96-80 in favor of FLC.

 

“I think the best word to use for that game was that was intense,” Pietrack said. “That was a really, really good heavyweight fight between two good RMAC teams when neither wanted to lose but we were able to withstand all of their big punches and just keep coming and keep coming and that was the difference.”

 

Saturday: Skyhawks win thriller over Western, 93-92.

 

Saturday night was a thriller and a game to remember. The Skyhawks escaped the game with Western State with a narrow 93-92 victory thanks to two clutch free throws by Hernandez with 2.9 seconds left.

 

“Thankful,” Pietrack said, describing his feelings after the game.

 

The Skyhawks had the game well in hand in the first half despite starting the game slowly. Western was up 17-8 early when FLC put together a 25-6 run and took over the half.

 

FLC went into halftime with an 11 point advantage, 43-32, but let Western hang around in the second half and they eventually went on a run of their own.

 

Western St. shot just 37.5 percent in the first half  but nearly doubled that in the second half by shooting 69 percent from the field and 50 percent from three.

 

The Mountaineers and the Skyhawks were going shot for shot at the end of the game, almost like two fighters going punch for punch. FLC would take the two point lead and then WSU would come back and tie the game up at the other end.

 

WSU tied the game up one final time in regulation when junior guard Christian West made a layup to send the game to OT tied at 85.

 

In the overtime, it seemed to be Westerns game to lose. FLC was gassed as they spent so much of their energy in Friday night’s game against CMU, Pietrack said.

 

“The night before you use 110 percent of your energy and you’ve gotta find a way to crank it back up,” Bach said.

 

Bach gave FLC a two point advantage, 91-89, with under 45 seconds left on the clock with a beautiful post move that got him open for a layup.

 

Western redshirt-junior guard Quincy Harding showed that he has ice in his veins on the very next possession though. He came back and nailed a contested three point shot from the wing with just over 10 ticks on the clock to give the Mountaineers a 92-91 advantage.

 

Everybody in the building thought it was going to Bach for the last shot of the game, but Pietrack and assistant Daniel Steffensen had another idea.

 

“To be honest with ya, Coach Steffensen said we should run blue for Daniel and I just trust him so much I said ‘okay,’” Pietrack said. “ We used Ras as a decoy and shot Hernandez down and he has been a clutch player, man.”

 

Hernandez drove the ball, got fouled, made the two free throws, and that was all she wrote in this one.

 

The win puts the Skyhawks at 7-1 (4-0) and drops Western to 3-7 (1-3).

 

The next game for FLC will come this Tuesday at home against the Adams State University Grizzlies at 7:30 P.M.