The Skyhawks men’s basketball team had the lead for most of the second half at Chadron State on Thursday night. But Jalen Thomas’ contested 2-point jumper from the right wing found the bottom of the net at the buzzer to stun Fort Lewis College and give the Eagles an 84-82 win.
FLC’s loss to Chadron State was a costly one and it’s a loss Skyhawks fans have seen recently. Coaches always talk about how they want their teams to play their best basketball at the end of the season. FLC is not right now.
After FLC’s win at home against Adams State on Feb. 4, the Skyhawks were 15-7 overall and 9-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. FLC had a shot at an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and was in a great spot for a home conference tournament game.
The Skyhawks had seven games left against none of the top three teams in the conference. Six of those games have happened and after FLC’s loss at Chadron State, the Skyhawks are 2-4 in those six games.
Losses to New Mexico Highlands (5-14 in RMAC play) and CSU Pueblo (7-12 in RMAC play) tanked FLC’s RPI. The loss to Chadron State is the nail in the coffin for FLC’s NCAA tournament at-large hopes and the once-promising hopes of an RMAC tournament home game are looking bleak.
FLC fell to 17-11 overall and 11-8 in the RMAC after it shot 39% from the field, 37% from 3-point range and 83% from the free-throw line.
Senior forward Chuol Deng led FLC with 19 points on 5-13 shooting from the field, 3-6 from 3-point range and 6-8 from the free-throw line along with 11 rebounds. Fifth-year guard Tru Allen added 13 points on 6-15 shooting from the field and 1-3 from 3-point range for the Skyhawks.
FLC only managed eight steals, which is tied for the second-lowest in a game this season. In FLC’s four losses in the last six games, the Skyhawks allowed 90.75 points per game.
Chadron State improved to 14-13 overall and 10-9 in the RMAC after it shot 44% from the field, 22% from 3-point range and 86% from the free-throw line.
Zy Wright led the Eagles with 28 points on 8-16 shooting from the field, 2-8 from 3-point range and 10-11 from the free-throw line. Thomas finished with 19 points on 7-12 shooting from the field, 2-3 from 3-point range and 3-4 from the free-throw line.
Neither team could get anything going from outside the paint early on until Thomas hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 9-6 with 15 minutes left in the first.
Allen and freshman guard AJ Riggs kept the Skyhawks in the game in the middle of the first half. Allen got to the paint while Riggs hit two from the line and a 3-pointer to put FLC up 16-15 with 11:20 to go in the first.
Like most teams in the RMAC against FLC, Chadron State had a size advantage inside and took advantage with some putbacks and a nice alley-oop slam by Wright to go up 28-24 with 7:12 left in the first.
FLC responded with some strong defense inside. Junior forward Keither Florence had a nice finish and Riggs hit another corner 3-point as FLC led 34-30 with 4:50 left in the first.
The Skyhawks shot the ball really well from 3-point range to end the half. The ball was moving quickly until the open shot was found. Senior guard Biko Johnson and junior guard Malachi Coleman each hit one to keep the Eagles at bay. Deng hit his third 3-point of the half from the left wing to put FLC up 43-38 with 20 seconds left.
An incredible ending to the first half happened when Allen fouled Wright on a half-court heave with 0.5 seconds left. Wright made all three free throws. Allen then got the ball well beyond half-court and banked in a heave from about 60 feet to put FLC up 46-41 at the half.
The Skyhawks started the second half with a few great possessions. Redshirt freshman Stewart Erhart hit an open corner 3-pointer and Deng finished inside to put FLC up 53-44 with 18 minutes left. The Eagles responded with an 8-0 run with a lot of good looks in the paint.
FLC stretched its lead to 62-55 with 12 minutes left after a steal and score by Coleman. But Chadron State’s ability to get into the paint continued to cause problems for FLC.
After struggling mightily from beyond the 3-point arc, the Eagles hit two huge 3-pointers to get back into the game. Thomas hit the second with 7:22 left to cut FLC’s lead to 69-67.
Chadron State took a 76-73 lead with 4:23 left after multiple finishes in the paint. FLC struggled to score with a few missed jump shots.
Johnson gave FLC the lead back with a huge 3-pointer in transition as FLC went up 80-77 with 3:15 left. The next possession for Chadron State was a long one as the Skyhawks could not secure a defensive rebound. After three offensive rebounds, Wright had a putback to cut the lead to one.
Allen had an acrobatic finish inside to put FLC up 82-79 with two minutes left. Those were the last points FLC scored. The Skyhawks got inside the paint multiple times but couldn’t finish after the game was tied by a Wright 3-pointer with 58 seconds left.
