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Skyhawks provide a second-half special

FLC shoots 61 percent to sink the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds

Ugly play at the start of the game quickly was overshadowed by the lights-out finish for the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team.

After opening on a 7-0 run and taking a 27-19 lead at the first media timeout, the FLC Skyhawks were chased down by the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds. The Skyhawks’ lead was cut to just 34-30 with 3 minutes, 44 seconds to play in the first half, but they went on a 12-3 run to close out the first half with a 46-33 lead.

The Skyhawks only would build on that lead to take a 104-72 victory for their fourth consecutive win to begin the season.

“It was much more Fort Lewis basketball as far as the turnovers and assists,” FLC associate head coach Bob Pietrack said of the team’s 24 assists to eight turnovers. “We’re scoring the ball right now, which is exciting. We’re pleased to be 4-0 after four games in six nights for us. It really tested our guys.”

FLC senior center Alex Herrera shook off an early laceration on his elbow to nearly accumulate a double-double in the first half with 11 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal. He finished the game with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He completed his double-double with 11 rebounds, and he continued to build on his career blocked shots record with seven more.

He showed no signs of fatigue after playing seven games in 14 days, including the team’s exhibitions.

“It’s what we live for. I mean, we’re in college right now. We’re young, just playing games like this is fun,” Herrera said. “Don’t really get tired, I guess, just going out and giving it our all.”

Guards Rasmus Bach and Will Morse also had big games, Bach finished with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He added seven rebounds and five assists. Morse finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

“Just a good team win. The ball is always moving,” Bach said. “I think the best thing about being on this team is you never know who is going to play well. We got a really deep bench, and I think it is going to be a good year for us.”

A pair of big Bach buckets followed by a Morse jumper led FLC to a 13-1 run to open the second half, making the lead 59-34 with 15 minutes, 30 seconds to play.

FLC extended its run to 19-3 before the Greyhounds answered with a 3 by forward Jacob Straley.

“It’s college basketball, so runs are gonna happen. We just want to have more runs than they do,” Pietrack said. “I think we were a little tired in the first half. We had really good energy to start the game, hit a bit of a lull, which we need to work through in the future, but overall our effort was very good.”

Senior guard Lucas Archuleta scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, as he helped the Skyhawks maintain their big lead when the Greyhounds began to hit a few 3s. He scored four fast-break points and intentionally was fouled on one made layup, giving FLC the basket, 1-of-2 made free throws and possession.

Cade Kloster, a junior guard, also had big moments for FLC, finishing with 14 points. Six FLC players were in double-figure scoring.

“We want to have as many guys as balanced as we can. Of course, we’re always gonna have (Herrera) leading the way,” Pietrack said. “But when you can have that kind of balance scoring, that’s what Fort Lewis has been in many previous years, and that’s where we want to be as far as scoring.”

FLC finished the game 61.5 percent from the field thanks to a 69.5-percent second half. The Skyhawks recovered a little bit from a dismal 2-of-13 start behind the 3-point line to finish 6-of-23.

The Skyhawks also limited their turnovers to just eight Thursday, a big improvement from the first three games of the year.

After playing four games in seven days, FLC will get a week off to prepare for a two-game set in Golden. The Skyhawks will play MidAmerica Nazarene University Nov. 28. They’ll follow with a game the next day against UC-San Diego.

“Definitely good to get some rest but looking forward to cleaning things up and going up there and playing two good teams,” Herrera said.

jlivingston@durangoherald.com

Nov 20, 2014
Eagles no match for ’Hawks


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