DURANGO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball made its return to the postseason for the first time since 2017 here Tuesday evening as the ThunderWolves went toe-to-toe for 40 minutes with No. 2 seeded Fort Lewis, before succumbing to the Skyhawks 102-96 in the quarterfinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at Whalen Gymnasium.

Tuesday's game was the first postseason game for the Pack since falling 54-52 to Colorado Christian in the quarterfinals of the 2017 RMAC Tournament. The Pack are now 7-16 all-time in the tournament.

With Tuesday's setback, the Pack end the 2023-24 campaign with a 14-15 overall record, while Fort Lewis, who is the defending RMAC Tournament Champion, improves to 26-3 and advances to Friday's semifinal round.

The 198 combined points in the game were the most combined points in an RMAC Tournament quarterfinal round game since New Mexico Highlands and Adams State combined for 204 points in a quarterfinal game in 2011. Adams State won that game, 106-98.

Freshman guard/forward Corbin Garver (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) had a coming-out party in Tuesday's game as he finished the night with a career-high 27 points and added seven rebounds. Garver was 8-for-13 from the field and 5-for-6 from the 3-point line in the contest. He also was 6-for-6 at the free throw line.

In addition to Garver, senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) added 24 points, while junior forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School) had 16 points. Senior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College) finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in his final collegiate game. Graduate student guard Isaiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./Cal State-Dominguez Hills) also played his final collegiate game on Tuesday as he had three points, two assists and two steals in 27 minutes of action.

Fort Lewis, who trailed 50-46 at the half, opened the second half on a 19-4 run to turn a four-point deficit into an 11-point lead at 65-54 with 14:23 left in the game. The 11-point lead was the largest of the game for the Skyhawks.

The Pack, though, responded with a 23-12 run capped by floating jump shot by Garver with 8:23 left to tie the game at 77. FLC would answer back with a 13-6 flurry to retake the lead at 90-83 with 4:20 remaining.

Following that run by the Skyhawks, the Pack made one run as they responded by scoring 10 of the next 12 points, including capping the run with a dunk by Copper to give the Pack a 93-92 lead.

After the Skyhawks failed to score on their next trip downcourt, the Pack had a chance to increase its lead by a jump shot by Walter inside the paint was missed and the Skyhawks would retake the lead following the missed basket on a three-pointer by Jhei-R-Jones. Jones' trey gave Fort Lewis a 95-93 lead. The Skyhawks would close the game on a 7-3 run to cap the scoring.

Obi Agbim paced the Skyhawks with 29 points, while Junior Grabrah added 19 points and Jones finished with 15. The fourth Skyhawk to finish in double digits was Malik Whitaker as he tallied 14 points.

The Pack jumped out to a 40-21 lead just 13 minutes into the game thanks to a combined 23 points from Walter (13 points) and Garver (10 points). Fort Lewis, though, responded with a 17-0 run to drop the Pack's lead to 40-38 with 2:35 left in the opening half. The Pack halted the run on a lay-up by Cooper to give the Pack a 42-38 lead.

After FLC scored five of the next seven points to pull within 44-43, the Pack used two treys from Walter in the final 51 seconds of the first half to a take a 50-46 lead at the half.

For the game, the Pack shot 49 percent from the field and 41 percent from the 3-point line as they were 13-for-32 from long distance in the game. The Pack were also 19-for-20 (95 percent) from the free throw line. The lone Pack miss at the line came from junior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) with 59 seconds left in the game.

Meanwhile, FLC shot 56 percent from the field and 44 percent (10-for-23) from the 3-point line. The Skyhawks were 30-for-34 (88.2 percent) at the line.

Fort Lewis finished with a 30-27 edge on the boards and each team committed 16 turnovers on the night. The Pack scored 25 points off those 16 FLC turnovers, including scoring 12 points off five FLC turnovers in the game's opening 12 minutes.

The Pack finished with 17 assists as Walter had four and Morris finished with three.