The Fort Lewis men’s basketball team played one of its worst first halves of the season and paid for it. Black Hills State had the momentum and a six-point lead heading into halftime.
But the Skyhawks looked like third-ranked team in the country in the second half, forcing 12 second-half turnovers en route to an 87-79 comeback victory Friday at Whalen Gymnasium.
“It was a great basketball game,” Skyhawks coach Bob Pietrack said. “You have to give Black Hills a lot of credit, they’re the two-time defending regional champions, they have a great program. I’m really proud of our second half. That’s as good of a second half as we have had with our intensity and we shared the ball.”
Fort Lewis improved to 23-2 overall and 18-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after shooting 42% from the field and 35% from 3-point range and 80% from the free-throw line.
Black Hills State fell to 13-12 overall and 11-8 in the RMAC after shooting 45% from the field, 37% from 3-point range and 70% from the charity stripe.
Senior guard Malik Whitaker led Fort Lewis with 17 points on 3 of 9 shooting from the field and a season-high 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. He also had seven rebounds and six steals.
“The offense we run, it’s a lot of motion so it creates a lot of gaps,” Whitaker said. “They were trying to press up on me and play me more as a shooter, so I took what they gave me and got to the rim.”
Junior guard Jhei-R Jones had 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the floor, 2 of 5 from 3-point range and 2 of 2 from the foul line. Senior guard Junior Garbrah and and junior guard Obi Agbim had 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
Caelin Hearne led the Yellow Jackets with 23 points after he shot 8 of 17 from the field, 4 of 10 from 3-point range and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line. Matthew Ragsdale and Joel Speckman had 16 points and 12 points, respectively.
Ragsdale is the top scorer in the RMAC, averaging 21.2 points per game.
The Skyhawks opened strong with a 10-0 lead in the first half, but Black Hills State responded with a few baskets inside and cut the Fort Lewis lead to 12-7.
Fort Lewis was able to cause some turnovers, but Black Hills State had some excellent transition defense to stop the Skyhawks from scoring.
Fort Lewis had multiple defensive breakdowns, leading to numerous left corner 3-pointers. Blake Volmer had a corner trey for the Yellow Jackets to cut the lead to 17-13. Agbim responded with a 3-pointer of his own to push the lead up to seven before Pietrack called a timeout with 9:25 left.
Carter scored inside and Garbrah got a timely steal to push Fort Lewis’ lead up to 27-19 with 5:59 left in the first half.
However, back-to-back 3-pointers and two layups gave Black Hills State a 29-27 with 4:20 left in the first half. Fort Lewis forced some jump shots from outside and went away from post looks, and it cost the Skyhawks.
Black Hills State continued the run with a bucket and a foul to go up four. Fort Lewis wasn’t getting the turnovers it had generated early in the game, and Black Hills State got looks inside because of it.
Ragsdale continued the Yellow Jackets’ run with a top-of-the-key 3-pointer. Black Hills State went on a 15-0 run and led 34-27 with 2:40 to go. Fort Lewis continued to settle for contested jumpers with little ball movement as Black Hills State made its 3-pointers.
“It was horrendous offensive execution,” Pietrack said. “We had poor shot selection and we couldn’t get the ball to the rim or the free-throw line. All of that is to set up our press. If we’re taking long and not very good shots, we can’t get into our defense and that’s when the runs happen.”
Black Hills State led 39-33 at halftime. It was the Skyhawks’ biggest halftime deficit since the opening game against Angelo State on Nov. 10.
Just like the first half, Skyhawks senior center Sekou Dembele started out the second half with a basket. It was a turnover fest for the Yellow Jackets in the first few minutes, and the Skyhawks tied up the game at 39.
Fort Lewis scored more efficiently in the first half, but had poor rotations and Black Hills State was able to cash in some open corner 3-pointers. The Yellow Jackets led 50-48 with 14:59 left in the second half.
The Skyhawks forced turnovers again in the second half and were found Carter inside. Fort Lewis led 59-52 with 11:25 left after a tough layup by Jones off another steal.
Black Hills State had nine turnovers in the first 11 minutes of the second half.
“Our rhythm comes from the defense and the turnovers,” Pietrack said. “That is where we hang our hat and once we started getting those turnovers and got going that was it.”
Black Hills State cut the deficit to six, but soon fouled Fort Lewis. Jones hit both free throws to put the game away.
Fort Lewis will host South Dakota at 6 p.m. Saturday on Senior Night, which will honor Dembele, Garbrah and Whitaker. Although Fort Lewis currently holds the first-tiebreaker over Colorado Mesa, both teams have 18-1 conference records.
“The pressure is on Mesa, they were picked to win the league,” Pietrack said. “They have 16 of 17 players back, we’re the transfer school so we don’t have pressure.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
