Fort Lewis College is only a handful of points from being in the thick of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference hunt.

Instead, the Skyhawks men’s basketball team is 7-7 in league and 9-9 overall, currently sitting in what would be the final spot in the eight-team RMAC Shootout by a half-game over Western State.

Close games and near misses are to blame. Fort Lewis has lost five games by fewer than five points and three games by less than two points. The last time they faced this weekend’s opponents, Western New Mexico and New Mexico Highlands, the Skyhawks were swept by a combined total of seven points.

Head coach Bob Hofman said it’s the little things that are killing his FLC squad.

“The main thing is it’s just not acceptable that our standards haven’t been met,” he said. “When referee’s calls make the difference, you’re not doing enough of the little things you need to do early in the game.

“Transition D for one. Anticipating rebounds, two. Taking care of the ball, three. And we just haven’t done as good a job as we need to do.”

The biggest backbreakers for the Skyhawks have come in their last two home games. FLC lost 66-65 to Colorado Mines on Jan. 13 thanks to a late jumper by Chris Goutama, and Adams State outlasted Fort Lewis 70-69 last Saturday. In the Adams State game, FLC went the last 4:32 of the game without a field goal.

For senior point guard Matt Billups, those two losses stung the most.

“I took the loss last weekend pretty hard on myself, with the missed free throw in the waning moments ... I’m not going to lie, that was probably two of the hardest games I’ve had to swallow in my career here,” Billups said.

Yet, as a senior leader, Billups said he doesn’t have time to dwell on any “What if?” scenarios.

“You’ve got to kind of swallow your pride with it and try to get better the following week,” he said.

Hofman isn’t a big fan of the “What if?” game himself, choosing rather to figure out why close games have been such a woeful endeavor for his squad this season.

“Then you get back to the old Bill Parcells line, ‘You are what your record says you are.’ ... We need to do a better job of fundamentals and the basics,” Hofman said. “It doesn’t take any skill to get back on defense.”

Life doesn’t get any easier with Western N.M. and N.M. Highlands coming to town. Both teams are 8-7 in the RMAC and are in the same boat as FLC – teams looking to stay alive for RMAC Shootout spots and a possible first-round home game.

With eight games left – four at home, four on the road – protecting Whalen Gymnasium becomes of the utmost importance. If the Skyhawks can’t protect the home court, they won’t get a chance to protect their Shootout title.

“We need to do a better job in particular of taking care of the home court,” Hofman said. “Two one-point losses at home, a (two)-point loss at Highlands. I don’t like it. It’s a lot harder to swallow at home than on the road.”

rowens@durangoherald.com