The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball may have been on the road for the first round of the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament on Saturday, but the team’s leading scorer Akuel Kot felt right at home.
Kot played high school ball at Palo Duro in Amarillo, Texas, just down the road from the South-Central Region host West Texas A&M University in Canyon. In the first half, Kot went off for 23 points, helping the Skyhawks take a 49-30 lead over Lubbock Christian University into halftime.
His teammates were also hot as FLC shot 63% (19/30) from the field in the first half while holding the Chaps to 34% shooting (11/32).
In the second half, the Skyhawks didn’t slow down on either end of the court to extend their lead. Lubbock knocked down some shots late, but FLC won the South Central Region opener, 97-65.
Kot finished with 31 points and also led FLC with seven rebounds. Junior Garbrah added 15 points, JaQuaylon Mays scored 14 while Dunnell Stafford, Brenden Boatwright and Obi Agbim scored eight each. As a team, FLC finished shooting 62% from the field (36/58), with Trevor Trost also knocking down two treys for six points, Sekou Dembele scoring four and Brendan La Rose draining one 3-pointer.
No. 2 FLC will next play No. 3 Black Hills State University at 4 p.m. Sunday in the regional semifinal. Black Hills beat No. 6 Colorado School of Mines 68-48 on Saturday.
Kot was tabbed with First Team All South-Central Region honors, the Division II Conference Commissioners Association announced Friday. Kot is the first Skyhawk to earn first-team honors since Joshua Blaylock in 2016-17.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment and honor for Akuel,” said head coach Bob Pietrack. “He's very much deserving of being mentioned among the region’s best players. Kot is such an incredibly humble and hard worker that any individual accolade is well earned.”
Kot’s list of awards this season also includes the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player, First Team All-RMAC, an RMAC All-Tournament Team nod and three RMAC Offensive Player of the Week awards.
Kot entered Saturday’s game averaging 24.4 points per game, a mark that ranks fourth in Division II and ninth across all NCAA divisions (I, II, III).
Kot also holds the program’s single-game scoring record with 45 and single-season scoring record with 787.
Joel Scott of Black Hills was named the region’s player of the year.
