DURANGO, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball gave the No. 15 nationally ranked Fort Lewis College Skyhawks a run on their home court Friday night as the Mountain Lions fell shy of the upset, 77-69.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 69, #15 FLC 77
Records: UCCS (11-4, 5-3 RMAC), FLC (12-1, 6-1 RMAC)
Location: Whalen Gymnasium | Durango, Colo.
Series: UCCS trails in the all-time series against Fort Lewis, 13-40, with the Skyhawks winning the last three matchups.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The No. 15 team in the country got the scoring started in the first possession of the game as a driving layup from Akuel Kot gave FLC the lead right out of the gate as the Skyhawks held on to the lead for just over two minutes before the Mountain Lions' offense came out firing.
• After FLC's Kot drained a three-pointer to extend the early Skyhawk advantage out to 7-2, The Mountain Lions came roaring back with
Jezza McKenzie answering the ensuing possession with a trey of his own to spark an impressive 16-4 run that lasted an even eight minutes. UCCS put FLC in an unfamiliar position by limiting the Skyhawks to 2-of-14 from the field in that span with five different Mountain Lions having a hand in the UCCS scoring to take a commanding 18-11 lead that
William Becker topped off with a layup at the 10:00 mark.
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Mac Stodart also netted a trey in the scoring run that put UCCS ahead as he added his second three-pointer of the half after the Skyhawks climbed back to a 25-24 lead as the sophomore forward took a pass from
Sufyan Elkannan with 4:24 remaining and found the bottom of the net to give the Mountain Lions their second lead of the half at 27-24.
• But FLC answered right back in the tightly contested opening 20 minutes with another three-pointer to swing the advantage back in the Skyhawk's hands as they held on to the lead through the remaining four minutes before McKenzie cut the deficit down to two points with a layup in the final seconds to keep the game well within grasp at the intermission, 34-32.
• Out of halftime, UCCS wasted no time attacking the basket with Stodart adding to his 11 point first half by drawing the shooting foul and draining both free throws to open the half and bring the score back to even, 34-34. The Mountain Lions continued to make their way to the line but struggled to take advantage of the free chances by going 8-of-14 from the charity stripe to start the second half as UCCS also registered 11 turnovers up until the 8:06 mark as they found themselves in a 10-point hole to FLC, 56-46.
• As the game progressed, both UCCS and FLC were matching baskets with the Mountain Lions working the game to a two possession contest as
Jon'il Fugett's monster second half put it within six points after a pair of made free throws with 2:09 remaining gave the senior 11 points for the half, making it 69-62.
• Then in a blink of an eye, UCCS was down just four points as the next possession saw stellar defensive play from
Beni Fungula who bagged the steal near half court and laid it in to make it 69-65. The Skyhawks managed to answer right back but another strong defensive stand from the Mountain Lions put game within four points once again as freshman
Jayden Washington came up with the block which turned into two points on the other end of the floor for Becker who sealed the double-double performance to push it 71-76 with 35 seconds remaining.
• The Mountain Lions would give themselves one more opportunity with Fugett laying it in after a pair of made free throws from the Skyhawks with 27 seconds left to play, but another costly UCCS turnover put the game out of reach as the Skyhawks held on to win 77-69.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• From the field, UCCS came to outshoot the red hot Skyhawks 41.4 to 39.7 percent with FLC holding the slight advantage from beyond the arc (29.4-26.7 percent) and from the charity stripe (69.2-65.4 percent).
• The Mountain Lions took care of business in the boards by outrebounding FLC 8-7 on the offensive side and 36-34 in defensive boards.
• The Mountain Lions and Skyhawks were nearly even in points in the paint (36-38) and second chance points (7-6) but UCCS turned the ball over 23 times to FLC's nine turnovers which turned into 20 points off turnovers for the Skyhawks compared to just two points for the Mountain Lions.
• FLC's Akuel Kot scored a game-high 24 points with
Jon'il Fugett closely behind with 21 points on 8-of-17 from the field and 5-of-9 from the free throw line.
Mac Stodart registered 17 points in the loss after going 5-of-12 including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc as he added 4-of-6 from the free throw line.
• William Becker put together a double-double performance by netting 13 points and grabbing 10 boards as he shot an impressive 6-of-8 from the field.
• No Skyhawk finished with more than seven rebounds as Becker (10), Stodart (nine), and Fugett (eight) combined for 27 rebounds.
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Jezza McKenzie posted a game-high four assists and four steals while also notching five boards and seven points Friday night.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• UCCS held the ninth highest scoring offense in all of Division II to their second lowest point total of the season and lowest field goal percentage of the season.
• The Mountain Lions entered Friday night with the nation's seventh highest defensive rebounds per game average (30.43).
• Mac Stodart posted his fifth consecutive double-digit game and third consecutive game with two more three-pointers made. Stodart also set a new career-high in blocks with two on Friday night.
• Jon'il Fugett tied his season-high in rebounds (eight) and registered his fourth game with 35 or more minutes played this season.
• William Becker recorded his third double-double of the season and seventh game with double-digit rebounds.
• Jezza McKenzie set a new career-high in steals with four as the sophomore has combined for nine steals the last three games.
UP NEXT:
UCCS Men's Basketball is back on the court tomorrow evening as they visit Adams State University in Alamosa, Colo. for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
SOCIAL:
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
