GOLDEN
After Saturday’s long, physical, overtime opening-round upset win against Lone Star Conference power Tarleton State, Fort Lewis had to turn around and face Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival and the NCAA South Central Region’s top-seed Colorado School of Mines, and the Skyhawks had nothing left.
The first 10 minutes of the game resembled each of the games the two teams had played this season, both of which ended in Colorado Mines overtime wins But Fort Lewis ran out of gas early, and Colorado Mines took advantage. The impact of Saturday’s slug fest took a toll and limited FLC’s energy reserves, and the Orediggers pulled away to win 86-67.
Colorado Mines (29-4) will face West Texas A&M in the regional final Tuesday in the Division II equivalent of the Sweet 16.
“I’d just like to first congratulate Colorado Mines on an epic season, and we’ll be watching them Tuesday when they represent the RMAC in the final,” Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack said. “I’m super proud of my team. We lost six seniors from our roster and had a special season last season. These guys picked up right where they left off, and we won 54 games in two seasons, so they have nothing to be ashamed of.”
FLC’s season ended in the same round of the NCAA Division II Tournament last year in Texas. In two years as head coach of the Skyhawks, Pietrack has guided the team to the national tournament both years and has won one game in each trip.
Colorado Mines had five players finish in double figures, and senior Gokul Natesan led the way with 16 points. Ben Clare added 14, while Luke Schroepfer and Adam Laine had 13 each.
The Orediggers made an early run, and Fort Lewis (26-7) came back to tie it at 20.
The final 10 minutes of the opening half the Skyhawks would like to have back. FLC turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions, and Colorado Mines went on a 14-3 run that led to a 46-30 halftime lead.
FLC couldn’t stop Orediggers’ big man Ben Clare, as he went a perfect 6-for-6 shooting in the first half and led all scorers with 12 points. It was a nearly perfect half for the hosts, as they racked up 15 assists and zero turnovers.
“We made sure the guys knew that we didn’t want them shooting jump shots,” Colorado Mines head coach Pryor Orser said. “When we shoot jump shots, we never get to the line, we never get the guys in foul trouble and we don’t play good basketball. We’ve done this a lot over the years, and we break down and chart every possession and this is what we’ve found.”
It didn’t get much better for Fort Lewis in the second half.
Clare and Laine continued to pummel the Skyhawks on the interior. They finished the game 13-for-17 from the floor combined.
The fatigued Skyhawks had trouble getting stops at one end and couldn’t get shots to fall at the other. Colorado Mines got to nearly every loose ball and got every fortunate bounce, and the result was a lead that reached 29 points with less than 10 minutes to play.
Fort Lewis senior guard Joshua Blaylock scored 16 points to lead FLC in his final game in a Skyhawks uniform.
“As long as I’m the coach at Fort Lewis College, nobody else will wear the No. 1,” Pietrack said. “He’s been that special to our program, and he’s given us way more than we could ever give him. He’s been beautiful and beyond special. He didn’t have his best game (Sunday), but last night he played 45 minutes and led us to the biggest win in our program’s history. If there was any way of cloning a player and coaching him together, Josh Blaylock would be the guy.”
Rasmus Bach and Alex Semadeni scored 13 points each in the loss for FLC, and both players will be back next year to lead the Skyhawks.
Fort Lewis’ season is over, but this group of Skyhawks made history. They were the second-winningest team in school history. The team carried a 30-game home winning streak into late in the season and had a program record for consecutive wins against RMAC opponents.
West Texas A&M jumped out to a 15-3 lead and never looked back, as the Buffaloes advanced to the South Central Regional final with a 76-64 win.
The Javelinas pulled off a huge upset of Lone Star Conference champion Texas-Permian Basin in the first round. They led 3-0 to start Sunday’s second-round matchup, but that’s all the time they had in the driver’s seat, as West Texas A&M responded with a 15-0 run as soon as Ryan Quaid, a product of Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins, checked into the game.
Quaid was coming off a 29-point, 18-rebound performance in the opening-round win against Texas A&M Commerce and led a dominant Buffaloes bench to a 50-15 advantage with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Texas A&M-Kingsville got the lead down to single digits in the second half, but never got close enough to make it a game.
Javelinas forward Trey Sumpter led all scorers with 21 points, while Buffaloes star guard David Chavlovich led West Texas A&M with 18 points.
jfries@durangoherald.com
