After trailing Regis University 42-26 at halftime of their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference quarterfinal game Tuesday in Whalen Gymnasium, Will Whittman, Corey Seng and Jaquess Hobbs sparked a Fort Lewis comeback in the second half.
The Skyhawks got within two points of Regis a couple of times, and when Hobbs assisted Wittman on a slam dunk with 1:19 to got, it cut the deficit to 82-79.
Fort Lewis missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game but got another chance with 15 seconds left after a Regis double dribble. Hobbs drove through Regis’ defense and put up a layup, but his shot missed and Regis made four free throws to seal the victory 86-81. Regis made 22 of 24 free throws in the game, compared with FLC’s 10 of 14.
Earlier in the half, Seng hit back-to-back 3-pointers for FLC and then scored while getting fouled and made his free throw to cut Regis’ lead to 66-60. Brenden Boatwright then scored on a putback, and Dunnell Stafford made two free throws to make it a two-point game, 66-64. Regis answered with two 3-pointers, then Wittman hit a three.
After that, Hobbs took over offensively for FLC, driving to the hoop for three layups while getting fouled on another attempt. His third layup got FLC within two, 74-72.
Regis hit another three. Riley Farris answered with a three for FLC, but Regis went deep again to go up 82-77 before Wittman’s slam.
Hobbs and Wittman both scored 17 points to lead FLC. Seng added 16, Akuel Kot scored nine, and Boatwright and Farris each scored six.
The loss was FLC’s second straight after the team won eight in a row to earn the tournament’s No. 3 seed. It ends Fort Lewis’ season at 19-9 overall.
Farris, Wittman, Hobbs and Seng are all seniors. Farris is Fort Lewis’ all-time leading scorer with 2,073 points.
"Skyhawks nation should be really proud of this team,“ said FLC head coach Bob Pietrack. ”We were picked to finish fifth in the league and ended up in third. We had some unbelievable wins, and the message moving forward is that this program is back and will continue to be relevant in competing for championships from now on.“
In the other quarterfinals, Black Hills State beat New Mexico Highlands 102-76. Colorado Mesa beat Metro State 77-65, and the University Colorado Colorado Springs beat Colorado School of Mines 74-71.
