The Fort Lewis College Men’s basketball team won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament title on Saturday in Grand Junction, and got a little revenge in the process.
FLC’s opponent in the championship game, the Colorado School of Mines, played spoiler last time they faced the Skyhawks. The Orediggers beat FLC in the regular season finale to keep FLC from hosting the RMAC Tournament, moving the tournament to Colorado Mesa University via a tiebreaker.
On Saturday in Grand Junction the two teams met again. This time the Skyhawks never trailed, keeping Mines at arms length the entire contest to win their seventh RMAC Tournament championship 82-76.
Akuel Kot scored 23 points and was named the RMAC Tournament Most Valuable Player. Brenden Boatwright, Obi Agbim and Junior Garbrah were named to the all-tournament team for FLC.
With FLC (28-3 overall) ranked No. 10/7 in the nation and the three other teams who reached the tournament’s final four also ranked in the top-16 nationally, this year’s semifinals and finals were the toughest ever by the numbers. Mines (26-5) is ranked No. 13 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and No. 25 by the Division II College Sports Communicators Media. Mesa (25-5) is ranked No. 14/15. Black Hills State, FLC’s semifinal opponent, is ranked No. 16/12.
The Skyhawks also entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in the South Central Region and the victory kept them in poll position to host the upcoming regional tournament. The brackets will be decided after the Lone Star Conference Tournament’s championship game Sunday between No. 2 West Texas A&M and the winner of No. 4 Angelo State and No. 8 Texas A&M Kingsville.
