CANYON, TEXAS- For the second straight season, the Fort Lewis men’s basketball team lost in the second round of the South Central region of the NCAA Division II tournament to a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponent they swept before the NCAA tournament. Last season, it was to Black Hills State 81-66.
Sunday night, it was to Colorado Mesa in an 85-80 loss inside First United Bank Center. Colorado Mesa’s Issac Jessup hit an open 3-pointer off a kick out from RMAC player of the year Trevor Baskin to put the Mavericks up 81-80 with 35 seconds left. Fort Lewis junior guard Obi Agbim had a drive and layup attempt the next possession and a 3-point look after that but both were no good and Colorado Mesa prevailed.
The Skyhawks finished the season 29-4 overall for the second straight season after they shot 46% from the field, 25% from 3-point range and 81% from the free-throw line in the loss.
“It was a great college basketball game and I don't think anybody deserves to lose but its unfortunate someone has to lose and that’s sports,” Fort Lewis head coach Bob Pietrack said. “Congratulations to Colorado Mesa, they’ve had a heck of a season as well. I’m incredibly proud of our program for the year we’ve had. It stinks to be short but there’s a lot to be proud of, a lot of great accomplishments this year for the Skyhawks.”
Colorado Mesa improved to 29-4 after it beat Fort Lewis for the first time this season. The Skyhawks beat the Mavericks in Grand Junction in the regular season and in Grand Junction in the RMAC tournament championship game. Colorado Mesa shot 46% from the field, 34% from 3-point range and 74% from the free-throw line.
Agbim led Fort Lewis with 17 points on 6-16 shooting from the field, 0-5 from 3-point range and 5-7 from the free-throw line. Agbim had 33 points in the win against Colorado Mesa in the RMAC tournament championship game.
“Tonight, we really just wanted to send him left more,” Colorado Mesa head coach Mike DeGeorge said about guarding Agbim. “He’s just so great going right and coming back to step back left and we really just worked to shade him that way. Christopher Speller was on him most of the night and just did an unbelievable job making him earn everything and just make it harder on him.”
Senior guard Malik Whitaker finished his last game as a Skyhawk with 12 points on 5-8 shooting from the field and 2-3 from downtown. Junior guard Samier Kinsler had 11 points on 4-8 shooting from the field, 1-3 from downtown and 2-2 from the free-throw line. Senior center Sekou Dembele had 10 points on 5-5 shooting in his final game as a Skyhawk.
Owen Koonce led the Mavericks with 20 points on 8-12 shooting from the field, 2-6 from downtown and 2-2 from the free-throw line. Jessup finished with 17 points on 6-18 shooting from the field and 5-15 from downtown. Baskin had 16 points and 10 rebounds as well.
It was a fast and furious start for both teams with scoring nonstop for the first four minutes. Colorado Mesa led 16-11 with 15:28 left in the first half after it started 75% from the field, while the Skyhawks started 63% from the field.
For the fifth straight game, the Skyhawks got into a big deficit. Issac Jessup hit a 3-pointer to put the Mavericks up 22-11.
But redshirt sophomore Amondo Miller Jr. showed up big once again. He had six points in a row and two offensive rebounds after that. Scoring then slowed after a frenetic start and the Skyhawks had some costly traveling calls.
The Mavericks hit some timely shots to keep the Skyhawks behind during the middle of the first half. Fort Lewis picked up two quick fouls which put the Mavericks in the bonus with 6:11 left in the first half and Colorado Mesa went up 34-25.
Fort Lewis struggled to curtail penetration and Colorado Mesa either finished inside or was fouled. The Skyhawks trailed 37-29 after a layup from Kinsler with 3:15 to go in the first half.
The Skyhawks got a nice 3-pointer off ball movement from sophomore Tristan Hurdle to cut the lead to 37-32 with two minutes left.
Fort Lewis then got into the bonus and junior forward Isaiah Thompson hit two free throws to cut the Mavericks lead to 39-36 with 50 seconds left.
Senior guard Junior Garbrah got a great offensive rebound off a free-throw miss. Thomson got to the line with four seconds left after he drew the second foul on Baskin. He made one free-throw and Fort Lewis trailed 43-38 at half.
Dembele had a great start to the second half. He had two finishes inside and walled up at the rim to contest a shot perfectly.
The Skyhawks took ball inside consistently to start the second half. One free-throw from Miller Jr. cut the Mavericks’ lead to 53-50 with 14:30 left.
Kinsler then really took over for the next few minutes. He had a steal and score, a midrange jumper, a flagrant foul was called on Colorado Mesa and he drained both free throws. Then Kinsler hit a 3-pointer to put Fort Lewis up 64-58 with 11 minutes to go.
Colorado Mesa then scored six in a row to cut the Skyhawks lead to 66-65. Speller scored inside off a goaltend to give the Mavericks a 71-70 lead with four minutes to go.
Jessup hit a big 3-pointer to put the Mavericks up 77-74. But Agbim came down on the next possession and scored three points the old-fashioned way to tie the game at 77 with two minutes to go.
Agbim really turned it on down the stretch. He hit a long jumper just inside the arc to put the Skyhawks up. He then was fouled on the next possession but only made one free-throw to put Fort Lewis up 80-78 with 48 seconds left.
That free-throw miss was costly as Jessup took the lead with his 3-pointer and the Mavericks sealed the game at the free-throw line after Agbim missed a 3-pointer down 83-80 with three seconds left.
“Obi had a decent look at it,” Pietrack said. “We didn't want to get too low on the clock because they could foul … I thought we got a pretty good look. I don't know if Baskin tipped it or just challenged it. It was just a little short. If it goes in, we may still be playing.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
