CANYON, Texas - Akuel Kot scored 31 points and no. 5/7 Fort Lewis shot 62.1 percent from the field for the contest, as the Skyhawks ended Lubbock Christian's season 97-65 in the first round of the NCAA South Central Regional on Saturday, Mar. 11.

After the Chaps (19-12) opened the game with two free throws from Rowan Mackenzie, Fort Lewis (29-3) went on a 9-0 run, thanks in part to a pair of jumpers from Dunnell Stafford and a three-ball from JaQuaylon Mays. A layup from Kurt Wegscheider ended the run, but another three for the Skyhawks, this time from Brendan La Rose, gave FLC a 12-4 lead with 16:17 left in the first half. 

A layup from Mackenzie and then a thunderous dunk from Russell Harrison got the Chaps back into the game for a minute, but a three from Junior Garbrah put the Hawks back up 15-10. Kot began to take over, starting a run for the Skyhawks where he scored eight of the next 10 points. Another make from downtown by Mays punctuated the 15-5 burst, and Fort Lewis went ahead 30-15 with 8:54 remaining in the opening stanza. 

Harrison traded baskets with the Hawks for a bit, but Fort Lewis went on another run, this time with Kot scoring seven straight before Mackenzie nailed a three to cut the deficit to 43-25 with 2:55 left in the first. Harrison and Kot traded makes from deep to end the opening twenty minutes, and the two teams went into the locker room with Fort Lewis on top 49-30.

Lubbock Christian made three shots from the free throw line to open the second half, but the Skyahwks took off on a 15-0 run, thanks in part to two jumpers from Kot and a pair of threes from Mays and Stafford to go up 66-33 with 13:11 left in the game. The Chaparrals made three straight from beyond the arc from Aaron Gonzales, Wegscheider, and Harrison, but a dunk and a triple from Mays kept the Hawks on top 75-47 with 8:58 remaining. 

Another three ball from Wegscheider got the Chaps as close as 21 points late, but another late run thanks to shots from Kot and a three from Garbrah to put FLC back up 85-57. Trevor Trost and Alec Zambie traded threes late in the game, and when the dust settled, Fort Lewis took a 97-65 win. 

Fort Lewis shot 62.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. Lubbock Christian was held to just 32.1 percent from the field, but the Chaps did shoot 43.5 percent from beyond the arc. 

Harrison scored 25 points in his final collegiate game, including going 10-for-11 from the free throw line. The Lubbock native also shot 3-for-5 (60 percent) from three. Harrison finishes his college career having played for four different schools (Wayland Baptist, Clarendon College, ULM, and LCU) scoring a total of 2,160 points, including 511 points in his lone season with the Chaparrals.

Mackenzie scored 16 points and hauled down eight rebounds. With his tenth point of the game, the junior became just the third player in program history to score at least 600 points in a season. Mackenzie finishes the year with 606 points, passing Jeff Brush (1982-83) for the second-most points scored in a single season in program history. Mackenzie's 144 made free throws this season are also the sixth most made in a single season.

Wegscheider finished the game with 10 points, including a perfect 2-for-2 from three.

Kot led the Skyhawks with 31 points and seven rebounds, shooting 76 percent from the field. 

The Chaps end the season with a 19-12 overall record after making their third straight NCAA Tournament. LCU will now head to the offseason and prepare for the 2023-24 campaign.