DURANGO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball put the brakes on a six-game losing streak in a big way here Thursday evening as the ThunderWolves earned a hard-fought 102-98 victory over Fort Lewis College in Rocky Mountain Conference action at Whalen Gymnasium.

With the win, the Pack improves to 11-14 overall and 6-11 in the RMAC, while Fort Lewis fell to 16-10 overall and 10-7 in the RMAC. The win was the first for the Pack in Durango since earning an 83-59 win on Feb. 13, 2015. The Pack had lost 10 straight in Durango before Thursday's win.

The victory, which was the first for the Pack since earning 69-63 win at home over New Mexico Highlands on Jan. 25, was keyed by strong free throw shooting as the Pack went 35-for-36 from the free throw, including making 33 straight before senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) missed a free throw with 1:03 left in the game. Muldrew, though, would seal the win with two free throws with 3.9 seconds left in the game.

Along with going 35-for-36 at the free throw line, the Pack made 11 treys as they shot a season-high 52 percent (11-for-21) from downtown in the win and also shot 57 percent from the field, including shooting 63 percent from the field and 66.7 percent (8-for-12) from the 3-point line in sprinting out to a 49-34 lead at the half. The 36 made free throws are tied for 11th most in a Division II game this season. 

The game featured a combined 54 fouls as the teams combined to shoot 73 free throws as long with the Pack shooting 36 free throws, Fort Lewis shot 37 free throws as they were 25-for-37 (67.6 percent) from the line.

Muldrew was one of five players to score in double figures in the game as he tallied 17 points and a career-high eight rebounds and was 7-for-8 from the free throw line. In addition to Muldrew, junior forward Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky./Vincennes University) led the Pack with 19 points off the bench as he was 6-for-9 from the field, 1-for-2 from the 3-point line and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line, including scoring 12 of those points in the first half.

Along with Muldrew and Lado, fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) scored 18 points, added five rebounds and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. The 18 points pushed Walter within 17 points of 2,000 career points as he has now tallied 1,983 points and is No. 4 active scorer in Division II men's basketball.

The other two double-digit scorers were senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (San Diego, Calif./Balboa School) finished with 16 points, including going 6-for-6 at the free throw line and junior guard Kesean Bazile (Victorville, Calif./West Hills Lemoore) scored 14 points off the bench, added four assists and hit three of the Pack's 11 treys in the win. With his 16 points, Cooper moved to 22nd in career scoring with 1,047 points.

The Pack trailed for just 40 seconds in the game as Fort Lewis took a 13-11 lead following a lay-up by Stewart Erhart with 11:56 left in the opening half. Following that lead, the Pack used a17-4 run over a span of five-plus minutes to take a 28-17 lead. The run began with back-to-back treys from redshirt sophomore guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) and Bazile and was capped by two Lado free throws. Lado scored the final eight points of the run, including a four-point play after making a 3-pointer and getting fouled at the under 12-minute media timeout in the first half.

Following that run, FLC responded with a 7-5 run to pull within 33-25 with 4:34 left in the opening half, but the Pack closed the half on a 16-9 run to take its 49-34 halftime lead. The first half closing run was keyed by a combined 10 points from Lado (6) and Cooper (4). The 15-point halftime lead was largest for the Pack since leading by 13 points (36-23) at the half in the RMAC opener on Dec. 5 at Westminster.

The Skyhawks opened the second half on 28-17 run to pull within 66-62 with 13:53 left in the game. The run was aided by 14 points from Tru Allen, who finished with a game-high 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Following FLC's run, the Pack used an 8-4 run keyed by six points from Walter and capped by a basket in the paint by Lado to help the Pack push its lead back out to eight points at 74-66 with 11:16 remaining. The Skyhawks responded with a 9-4 run capped by back-to-back lay-ups by Cassius Carmichael and Erhart to pull within 78-75 with 9:39 remaining.

Two free throws by Cooper and a trey from Bazile gave the Pack an 83-75 lead with 8:57 left, before FLC once again answered back with a 9-4 run to cut the Pack's lead to 87-84 with 6:33 remaining in the contest.

On the ensuing possession by the Pack, Cooper scored on a dunk to give the Pack an 89-84 lead and after Allen scored on a tip-in with 5:21 to pull the Skyhawks within 89-86, junior guard Denim Johnson (Omaha, Neb./Trinity Valley CC) gave the Pack a 92-86 lead following a 3-point play with 5:06 left in the game.

FLC would come right back and used an 8-4 run to pull within 96-94 with 2:06 left in the game. Bazile would score on a driving lay-up and a free throw with 1:41 left to give the Pack a 99-94 lead with 1:41 left.

The Skyhawks would score three straight points to drop the Pack's lead to 99-97 with 1:08 left, before the Pack hit the century mark for the second time this season after going 1-for-2 at the free throw line with 1:03 left. 

Fort Lewis outscored the Pack, 64-53, in the second half. 

With its 102 points, the Pack is now 106-8 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in a game since becoming a four-year school in 1963, including being 8-3 when scoring 100 or more points since the 2019-20 season. 

In addition to Allen's 24 points, Biko Johnson, who is the leading scorer in the league as he entered the game averaging 16.9 points per game, finished with 20 points, while Erhart added 16 points and Choul Deng tallied 14 points in the loss.

The Pack's bench outscored the Skyhawks, 40-17, but was outscored, 46-30 in the paint.

While the Pack shot over 50 percent from both the field and 3-point line, Fort Lewis finished the night shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 36.8 percent (7-for-19) from the 3-point line. In the second half, FLC shot 59.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the 3-point line.

The Pack was outrebounded, 35-27, including 19-4 on the offensive boards as FLC held a 20-6 edge in second chance points.

Fort Lewis forced the Pack into 19 turnovers that led to 25 points, including scoring 19 points off 10 second half Pack turnovers. FLC had 10 turnovers that led to 15 points for the Pack.

The Pack had 17 assists and blocked four shots, while FLC had eight assists and two blocked shots. The Skyhawks, who leads Division II in steals, finished with 15 in the game.

CSU Pueblo will look to make it two wins in a row as they travel to Alamosa, Colo., for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Adams State (11-14 overall, 6-11 RMAC), who picked up a 93-69 win at home Thursday over UCCS. The Pack collected a 92-88 win in overtime against the Grizzlies in Massari Arena on Jan. 23.