Air Force Academy – One more win, and the Air Force Falcons will become the winningest basketball team in school history.
The Falcons earned win No. 22 on Wednesday night, turning back New Mexico 51-46 in a rugged defensive battle before 4,759 fans at Clune Arena for their fourth victory in a row in Mountain West Conference play.
The Falcons joined the 2003- 04 team that won the MWC title and finished 22-7. This team has two games left before the MWC Tournament to try to better that success, at home Saturday against Nevada-Las Vegas and March 4 at Colorado State.
The Falcons didn’t have it easy Wednesday against the Lobos. Jacob Burtschi knocked down two free throws with 12 seconds left for a 50-46 lead, and Antoine Hood hit another freebie with six ticks on the clock.
“Games this late in the season are not going to be pretty,” AFA coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “Teams have seen each other before and know their tendencies. All these games are down to the wire.”
The Falcons (22-5, 10-4 MWC) put a stop to New Mexico’s four-game win streak and extended their home-court win streak to 16. They won this one at the free-throw line after Dan Nwaelele made a 3-pointer to give the Falcons a 44-39 lead and their last field goal of the game.
Hood, a senior guard, led the Falcons with 15 points, nine in the second half. Mark Walters (17 points) teamed with David Chiotti (12 points, 11 rebounds) for New Mexico (16-10, 7-6) to chase the Falcons to the wire.
“Tonight, you’ve definitely got to put it on our defense,” Hood said. “We made the stops when we had to. Coach always tells us that offense is always a variable, but you can always make it up on defense.”
The toughest team to score against in the MWC – not to mention the nation – is Air Force, allowing 53.8 points a game. The second stingiest is New Mexico at 62.8. Both had a tough time scoring in a first half that produced almost as many turnovers (13) as baskets (16).
Things loosened up a bit in the second half. The Falcons went up by seven with 7:47 to go, but that lasted only as long as it took the Lobos to get to the other end of the court, where Jeff Hart buried a 3. From that point, the Lobos kept up the chase only to be met with another AFA stop.
“We were just trying to be patient,” New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay said. “Air Force is a good team. Their record at home says that.”
Another win or two and a solid performance in the conference tournament, and the Falcons are probably looking at another NCAA Tournament bid.
NEW MEXICO (16-10, 7-6 MWC)
Chiotti 5-8 2-4 12, Danridge 2-6 0-0 4, Collins 1-6 0-0 2, Walters 7-14 0-0 17, Harden 0-2 0-0 0, Walter 1-4 0-0 3, Hart 1-5 0-0 3, Prentice 0-0 0-0 0, Toppert 2-5 0-0 5, Faris 0-0 0-0 0, Box 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 2-4 46.
AIR FORCE (22-5, 10-4 MWC)
Burtschi 1-6 4-4 6, Nwaelele 3-8 1-2 10, Frye 2-6 3-5 7, McCraw 3-7 1-2 10, An.Hood 6-9 2-4 16, Anderson 1-2 0-0 2, Holum 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-38 11-17 51.
Halftime – Air Force 19-18. 3-point goals – New Mexico 6-24 (Walters 3-7, Walter 1-4, Toppert 1-4, Hart 1-5, Collins 0-2, Harden 0-2); Air Force 8-22 (McCraw 3-5, Nwaelele 3-7, An. Hood 2-3, Anderson 0-1, Frye 0-2, Burtschi 0-4). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – New Mexico 29 (Chiotti 11), Air Force 29 (Burtschi 6, An. Hood 6). Assists – New Mexico 12 (Chiotti 5), Air Force 13 (Anderson 5). Total fouls – New Mexico 19, Air Force 10. A – 4,759.
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
