Air Force Unable To Hold Lead In Setback To Boise State

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force men’s basketball (3-7, 1-5 MW) dropped an 80-69 Mountain West contest to Boise State (10-1, 6-0 MW) Friday night at ExtraMile Arena.  Junior guard AJ Walker led four Falcons in double figures scoring with 23 points.

Shooting 62 percent from the field in the first half, the Falcons jumped out to a 40-33 halftime lead.  Air Force also hit five first-half three’s.

Boise State then opened the second half on a 15-2 run to erase Air Force’s lead.  The Falcons trailed by as many as nine midway through the second half before mounting a rally.

A 7-0 run by the Falcons got the game down to two points.  The Falcons then got the game down to a point on a Chris Joyce three at 63-62 Boise State with 6:24 to go.  Boise State then went on a 9-0 run to go up 10.  The Falcons were only able to get one field goal the rest of the game.

Air Force shot a season-best 53.3 percent from the field (24-of-45) and 92.3 percent from the line (12-of-13).  The Falcons also made 9-of-20 from three, good for a 45 percent clip.

Walker went 8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from three point range for his second game over 20 points this season.  The junior also dished out four assists.

Joining Walker in double-figures were senior guard Chris Joyce, freshman guard Glen McClintock and senior forward Ameka Akaya.  Joyce finished with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting with three three’s. He also had a team-high five rebounds. McClintock was one shy of his career-high with 14 points and four rebounds.  Akaya had a season-high 10 points and was one shy of his career-high.

Boise State shot 53 percent from the field on the night.  The Broncos dominated the second-chance points 20-3 and had 12 offensive rebounds.  Forward Abu Kigab led Boise State with 25 points and guard Derrick Alston added 19.

Air Force returns to action next week, hosting Wyoming for two games on Jan. 16 and 18.  The Saturday Jan. 16 game tips at 2 pm MT.