Foul shots and 3-pointers.
It seemed like CSU Pueblo’s men’s basketball team couldn’t miss either of those against Fort Lewis College on Thursday night and the ThunderWolves came away with a 102-98 road win.
CSU Pueblo was last in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 3-point shooting before this game. The ThunderWolves shot 67% in the first half from downtown to stun the Skyhawks’ crowd and get a big lead.
The Skyhawks settled into an offensive groove in the second half and despite being down by 19 early in the second, FLC battled back to make it a game. But the referees were blowing their whistles constantly and CSU Pueblo couldn’t miss from the free-throw line, literally. The ThunderWolves made their first 32 free throws in a game with 51 personal fouls and FLC could never take the lead in the second half.
“I’m frustrated that we lost; it's never fun to lose,” FLC head coach Jordan Mast said. “But I'm actually proud of the group and I told the guys I’m super proud of their effort. They executed everything we wanted. The message that we sent is we're building a culture that to beat us, you better play the best game that you could possibly play. That's what I felt tonight; no disrespect to Pueblo, I don't think they could shoot that well if they tried 100 times. Tonight was the one game they got.”
FLC fell to 16-10 overall and 10-7 in the RMAC after it shot 47% from the field, 37% from 3-point range and 68% from the free-throw line. The loss to CSU Pueblo gives the Skyhawks some work to do in their final three RMAC games for a top four seed. FLC’s NCAA tournament at-large hopes also took a hit with the home loss.
Fifth-year guard Tru Allen led the Skyhawks with 24 points on 9-20 shooting from the field, 0-2 from 3-point range and 6-8 from the free-throw line along with eight rebounds. Senior guard Biko Johnson had 20 points for FLC on 5-10 shooting from the field, 3-6 from 3-point range and 7-11 from the free-throw line.
CSU Pueblo improved to 11-14 overall and 6-11 in the RMAC after it shot 57% from the field, 52% from 3-point range and 97% from the free-throw line.
Victor Lado led the ThunderWolves with 19 points off the bench on 6-9 shooting from the field, 1-2 from 3-point range and 6-6 from the free-throw line. Brevin Walter added 18 points on 3-6 shooting from the field, 2-4 from 3-point range and 10-10 from the free-throw line.
Whistles were blown frequently early in the game as the referees didn’t allow the players to play through contact.
“We're learning what the RMAC officiating is all about,” Mast said. “That's tough some nights … We get penalized for our pressure when we're just moving our feet and working hard. Other teams don't work nearly as hard.”
The Skyhawks took the lead for about a minute but CSU Pueblo responded with two 3-pointers to go up 17-13 with 10:20 left. FLC missed a lot of makeable shots inside early on.
FLC seemed happy to allow CSU Pueblo to shoot 3-pointers, considering it came into the game shooting a conference-worst 30% from downtown. But the ThunderWolves started out 5-7 from 3-point range, including a 4-point play by Lado to put CSU Pueblo up 26-16 with 7:30 left.
Both teams got into the bonus with plenty of time left in the first half. The ThunderWolves were in a more precarious position because they only had eight available players. Four of CSU Pueblo’s eight players had at least two fouls with four minutes left in the first.
FLC’s struggles to defend the ThunderWolves continued. After CSU Pueblo started hot from 3-point range, the Skyhawks left De’Shaun Cooper inside for two dunks to put CSU Pueblo up 41-27 with 2:30 left.
The Skyhawks drew plenty of fouls to end the half but struggled to hit free throws. The barrage of ThunderWolves 3-pointers didn’t stop and CSU Pueblo led 49-34 at halftime. CSU Pueblo shot 63% from the field, 67% from 3-point range and 100% from the free-throw line in the first half.
“Our whole staff, every single coach, said this is what they (CSU Pueblo) have to do,” Mast said about halftime. “They're not going to continue making them second half. To their credit, they cooled off a little bit, but not very much.”
CSU Pueblo hit its first two 3-pointers of the second half to extend its lead to 55-38.
Then Allen took over and scored eight points in 40 seconds as the Skyhawks went on a 10-0 run thanks to their defense to cut CSU Pueblo’s lead to 59-50 with 16:07 left.
Three-pointers and a quick steal and score made it 64-60 with 14:18 left. FLC had taken its press and defensive intensity to another level to get back into the game.
CSU Pueblo kept FLC at bay with excellent free throw shooting and the ThunderWolves were in the bonus with 10 minutes to go.
The Skyhawks found a rhythm offensively with great drives and shooting from all over the court. An Allen layup cut CSU Pueblo’s lead to 89-86 with 5:19 left.
Allen cut the lead to 94-92 with a steal and score but the Skyhawks couldn’t stop fouling on the other end. Up 99-97, the ThunderWolves missed their first free throw with a minute left.
The Skyhawks got the ball and Mast called timeout down three with seven seconds left. CSU Pueblo fouled Allen. Mast said he wasn’t expecting that but it makes sense looking back on it with how well CSU Pueblo was shooting.
Allen went to the line to shoot two in the double bonus but could only hit one, effectively ending the game.
The Skyhawks celebrate senior day on Saturday against Colorado Christian at 3 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
