PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball ran into a buzzsaw here Friday evening as the ThunderWolves suffered an 86-68 loss to No. 3 ranked Fort Lewis College in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
With the setback, the Pack fall to 9-12 overall and 5-10 in the RMAC, while Fort Lewis won its eighth straight game and improved to 20-2 overall and 15-1 in the RMAC. The setback was the fifth consecutive for the Pack, which is the longest losing streak for the Pack since losing nine straight games during the 2020-21 season.
 
The Pack will conclude its three-game homestand with a 7:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 10 against Adams State, who moved to 7-14 overall and 5-10 RMAC following its 92-85 win Friday night at New Mexico Highlands. The Pack, who picked up a 103-97 win at Adams State on Dec. 8, is in a three-way tie with Adams State and Colorado Christian for 10th place in the league standings with seven games remaining in the regular season.
 
In Friday's setback, senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) led the way offensively for the Pack with a game-high 18 points and added four rebounds and three assists. In addition to Walter, senior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College) added 13 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) tallied 10 points.
 
Two more Pack players finished just shy of double figures as freshman guard Shad Levy (Geismar, La./The Dunham School) scored a career-high nine points in four minutes of action off the bench, while freshman forward Corbin Garver (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) had eight points and five rebounds.
 
The Pack offense struggled shooting the basketball against the Skyhawks as they shot just 36 percent from the field and 29 percent (10-for-34) from the 3-point line, including shooting 26 percent from the field and 15 percent (2-for-13) from the 3-point line in the first half as Fort Lewis jumped out to a 45-25 lead at the half.
 
CSU Pueblo would outscore the Skyhawks, 43-41 in the second half, including scoring 24 of the final 31 points to cut the final deficit to 18 points. Levy scored the final nine Pack points.
 
The game was close early on as the Pack led 3-2 just a minute into the game thanks to a Walter trey, but the Skyhawks scored 22 of the next 26 points to push out to a 25-7 lead with 9:15 left in the opening half. The Pack, though, would score four of the next five points to pull within 26-11.
 
FLC would respond with a 17-7 run over the next five-plus minutes to push out to a 43-18 lead. The Pack would close the first half on a 7-2 run to cut the Skyhawks' halftime lead to 45-25, including Walter capping the scoring with trey with 27 seconds left.
 
The Skyhawks would open the second half on an 18-3 run to push its lead to 35 points at 63-28 with 14:22 left in the game. The 35-point lead was the largest of the game for FLC.
CSU Pueblo responded with a 13-6 run over the next five-plus minutes to cut FLC's lead to 69-41. Morris and Walker combined for 10 of the Pack's 13 points during the run.
 
The Skyhawks made one more push to extend its lead back out to 35 points at 79-44, before the Pack scored 24 of the final 31 points.
 
Malik Whitaker paced Fort Lewis with 14 points, while Obi Agbim and Tristan Hurdle each scored 12 points off the bench. Junior Garbrah and Jhei-R Jones each scored 10 points in the win. FLC scored 43 of their 86 points off the bench in Friday's game.
 
The Skyhawks shot 50 percent from the field and 43 percent from the 3-point line in the win.
 
FLC held a 50-34 edge on the boards as Whitaker pulled down nine boards and Sekou Dembele had eight boards. Morris and junior forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School) each had six boards to pace the Pack.
 
The Pack had 20 assists on 25 made baskets with sophomore guard Sam Howery (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary's) had four assists. The Pack also won the turnover battle as FLC committed 17 turnovers led to 19 points for the Pack, while the Pack committed just 11 turnovers that led to 15 points for the Skyhawks.
 
CSU Pueblo also outshot the Skyhawks at the free throw line in the game as the Pack were 8-for-9 (88.9 percent) from the line, while FLC was just 11-for-19 (58 percent) at the line.