DURANGO, Colo. – Facing a team that is one week removed from the NABC Top-25 Poll, the Black Hills State University men's basketball team fell 66-48 Friday night to Fort Lewis College.
 
After Jonas Anderson scored the game's opening basket, a 3-pointer on the opening possession, and a Fraser Malcolm go-ahead jumper to give the Green and Gold a 5-3 lead, Fort Lewis went on an 18-0 run to open a 21-5 lead with 9:43 on the clock in the first half.
 
Anderson again sank a long-range basket to put an end to the run but the damage had already been done as the first place team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference entered intermission with a 36-18 lead.
 
The two squads evenly traded baskets in the second half with each squad scoring 30 points. The Yellow Jackets made a small run in the second half with the Skyhawks leading 54-32 and 9:17 remaining in the game. Using a 9-1 run, the Green and Gold cut the deficit to 14 points when Anderson sank a jump with 5:28 on the clock.
 
The run began with a pair of Malcolm free throws and continued with an old-fashioned three-point play from Zach McLemore. Max Mueller hit a jumper before Anderson's shot fell for the 14-point deficit at 55-41.
 
However the was the closest the Yellow Jackets would get as Fort Lewis prevailed 66-48.
 
Malcolm scored a team-high 12 points and grabbed three rebounds while Anderson tallied 10 points and four rebounds. McLemore totaled 10 points and now sits at 992 points in his post high school career looking to hit the 1,000-point milestone tomorrow night.
 
Daniel Hernandez led Fort Lewis with 16 points. Black Hills State held the RMAC's top-two leading scorers Rasmus Bach and Joshua Blaylock well below their season average as Blaylock tallied 12 points and Bach six points. Bach entered the game averaged 20.2 points per game and was held to a season-low tonight.
 
Black Hills State falls to 5-12 overall and 2-9 in the RMAC while FLC, who fell out of the NABC Top-25 poll for the first time in nearly two years this week, improves to 14-3 overall and 9-2 in the loop.
 
The Yellow Jackets travel to Adams State for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff tomorrow night. The Grizzlies defeated South Dakota Mines 60-59 on Friday night.