Fort Lewis gets away from ThunderWolves

Fort Lewis 79, CSU-Pueblo 60

PUEBLO, Colo. - The ThunderWolves flirted with an upset bid at times Saturday vs. the RMAC West Division-leading Fort Lewis Skyhawks, but heroics ran dry as the Pack fell 79-60.

The Pack trailed 23-9 midway through the first half, and kept battling to get within shooting distance for a potential rally.

Helped along by a banner game by Roman Van Allen (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.), who came through with five steals on the game, the ThunderWolves trimmed the lead to eight, 35-27, by halftime, and made numerous strikes in the second half.

The most encouraging came on a run midway through the second half.  Trailing 51-35, CSU-Pueblo embarked on a 13-2 run, trimming the Fort Lewis lead to just five, 53-48, with nine minutes remaining in the game.   The advance was keyed by an 8-point flurry by Jordan Surratt (Sr., Morgantown, W.V.), who came up with two big three-pointers and followed it up with a pretty jumper. 

But the ThunderWolves' fortunes ran dry as the threes stopped dropping and Fort Lewis kept up its consistent play.  Led by a team shooting percentage of 59.6 percent, Fort Lewis slowly added to the lead to build the final 19-point advantage, its largest lead of the game. 

The Skyhawks got big games from DeAndre Lansdowne, who came through with a game high 28 points, and a 21-point, 8-rebound effort from Kirk Archibeque.  Ryan Jameson added the rare double-double via assists, scoring 13 points and logging 10 assists.

The Pack couldn't match those numbers, led by Jake Trahern (Sr., Kit Carson, Colo.) with an 18-point, 9-rebound night, and a 15-point effort from Rome Smith (Sr., Denver, Colo.).

The ThunderWolves will get little rest, embarking for Las Vegas, N.M. to take on the hot New Mexico Highlands Cowboys on Tuesday.  The Cowboys took down Fort Lewis Friday night.