DURANGO, Colo. --- The Western Colorado men's basketball team's season will come down to the final day of the regular season thanks to the Mountaineers breaking an 11-year, 12-game losing streak in Durango as they defeated Fort Lewis 87-83 on Saturday at Whalen Gymnasium.
 
The Mountaineers (13-14 overall, 10-11 RMAC) have won five in a row to move to just a game back of Regis and Westminster for the eighth and final spot in the RMAC Tournament with one game to go. WCU hosts Colorado Mesa 7:30 p.m. Friday, and if the Mountaineers win and Regis loses to MSU Denver and Westminster falls to No. 13 Dixie State – there will be a three-way tie at 11-11 for the final spot.
 
Since none of the teams swept all the games against the other two teams – or was swept by all the other teams (WCU went 1-1 versus Westminster and 2-0 versus Regis; Regis went 2-0 versus Westminster and 0-2 against WCU; Westminster went 1-1 versus WCU and 0-2 versus Regis), per RMAC rules the tiebreaker (see at the bottom) would go to a point rating system (which can't be completely determined until the season is over).
 
As for Saturday's victory, the Mountaineers led Fort Lewis (13-14, 7-14) for most of the contest (32 minutes to be exact), but neither team led by more than nine points in the contest.
 
WCU trailed 71-70 with 6:15 remaining before Will Willis – who had a career night – drained a 3-pointer to give the lead back to the Mountaineers at 73-71 – and they wouldn't trail again.
 
But that doesn't mean it wasn't close down the stretch as Fort Lewis trailed just 85-83 with 16 seconds left when a Skyhawk was fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one. The FLC player missed the front end, but the Skyhawks got the offensive rebound and took a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with seven seconds left that missed and Monroe Porter grabbed the rebound and was fouled with three seconds left.
 
The senior calmly sank both free throws to secure the victory for the Mountaineers. It was the first win at Whalen Gymnasium for WCU since Feb. 6, 2009 – a span of 12 games.
 
Willis led the Mountaineers with a career-high 24 points – going 5-for-7 from 3-point range. Matthew Ragsdale had 17 points (going 3-for-5 from 3-point range), Cole Sienknecht had 15 points and four assists, Will Willis had 10 points and four assists while Porter finished with seven points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
As a team, the Mountaineers shot 50.8 percent from the field, including going 13-for-28 (46.4 percent) from 3-point range. WCU was also 12-for-15 (80 percent) from the free-throw line.
 
RMAC Manual (Appendix 1)
A. BASKETBALL.
1. Tie-breaker.
    a. Head to head record in regular season conference play (even if only one game was played)
        - In a scenario where more than two teams are tied – if one of the tied teams swept all the other teams they would rise to the top in the head to head comparison
        - Conversely if one of the teams was swept by all teams they are tied with they drop to the bottom in the head to head comparison
        - If two teams remain tied after the multiple team tie has been broken – compare head to head again
        - If the two teams split or a multiple (3+) team tie remains – go to next step
    b. Point rating system – conference games only
        - Points shall be awarded for each contest played. The points shall be awarded as follows:
        7 points – win over a .750 or better team on the road
        6.5 points – win over a .750 or better team at home
        6 points – win over a .500 or better team on the road
        5 points – win over a .500 or better team at home
        4.5 points – win over a .250 or better team on the road
        4 points – win over a .250 team or better at home
        3.5 points – win over an under .250 team on the road
        3 points – win over an under .250 team at home
        2.5 points – loss at home or on the road to a .750 or better team
        2 points – loss to a .500 or better team at home or on the road
        1 point – loss to a .250 or better team at home or on the road
        .5 points – loss to an under .250 team on the road
        0 points – loss to an under .250 team at home
    c. Compare win loss % vs. teams who finished highest in standings in descending order until an advantage is gained
    d. Coin flip. (Revised: October 2014)