Nick Welch knew his way up and down the floor Friday night at Clune Arena, contributing a solid scoring and rebounding performance in his return after a year’s absence.
The 6-foot-8 Welch, once prominent in Air Force basketball circles before injuries took him out of the picture last season, has scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the first two games, including Tuesday night’s 69-68 win against Long Beach State at the CBE Classic hosted by Stanford. Welch has a quick turnaround; Air Force plays Stanford tonight in Palo Alto, Calif.
“I think I got about a C+,” Welch said after Friday’s season opener. “It was different than I had anticipated. I anticipated just going right back into things. I’m trying to work a little rust off now and once that happens, I think we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
His quick start this season is reminiscent of his sophomore season when he was the 2003-04 Mountain West Conference co-player of the year and led the Falcons to their first NCAA Tournament in 42 years.
Welch played his junior season two years ago, but missed all of last season after knee surgery in July and ankle and foot surgery in September. He was unable to complete his assignments at the academy because of the injuries and was allowed to step out for a semester and is now playing his senior year.
Coach Jeff Bzdelik said Welch and the rest of the team has to get rid of any rust and in a hurry.
“It was good to see Nick Welch out there,” Bzdelik said. “He needs to improve on finishing around the rim. He has a tendency to run through layups. He needs to go up off of two feet and either get fouled or score. He’s so quick to the rim, if we can get him to finish better, he’ll be that much better.”
Welch has been used some at forward, allowing 6-10 John Frye to be on the floor at the same time.
“I’m accustomed to playing out there,” Welch said. “Our offense is the same at every position. You just have to know every spot on the floor.”
Welch said he still has to work on the fine points.
“The more I play, the more rust I get off of me,” Welch said. “We have a new look this year. We pushed the ball up the floor a little bit in the first half.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
Nwaelele’s 3-pointer nabs win
Stanford, Calif. – Dan Nwaelele scored 19 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:31 left that broke a tie, to lead Air Force to a 69-68 victory over Long Beach State in the first round of the CBE Classic on Tuesday night.
Jacob Burtschi led the Falcons (2-0) with 22 points and Tim Anderson added 11.
Aaron Nixon scored all of his 17 points in the second half for the 49ers (0-1). Sterling Byrd added a career-high 16 points.
Air Force plays Stanford (2-0), which defeated San Jose State (0-2) 73-52, tonight for a ticket to the Final Four in Kansas City, Mo., on Monday.
The lead changed hands eight times in the second half and was tied five times.
Long Beach State led the nation with an 83.3 scoring average last season, while the Falcons led the nation in scoring defense the past four seasons, last season with a 54.7 average.
AIR FORCE (2-0)
Burtschi 7-14 5-6 22, Nwaelele 6-11 4-9 19, Welch 3-4 3-4 9, McCraw 1-8 0-0 3, Anderson 4-6 2-2 11, Teets 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 1-3 0-2 2, Frye 0-0 3-4 3. Totals 22-46 17-27 69.
LONG BEACH STATE (0-1)
Byrd 7-10 0-1 16, Ricks 4-8 0-0 8, Johnson 1-9 1-2 4, Houston 4-8 1-2 11, Nixon 6-21 3-6 17, Darby 1-2 0-1 2, Gant 2-3 2-2 6, Dawson 2-3 0-0 4, Peys 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-64 7-14 68.
Halftime – Air Force 30-25. 3-point goals – Air Force 8-23 (Burtschi 3-7, Nwaelele 3-7, Anderson 1-2, McCraw 1-6, Welch 0-1), Long Beach St. 7-22 (Houston 2-4, Byrd 2-5, Nixon 2-6, Johnson 1-6, Gant 0-1). Fouled out – Darby. Rebounds – Air Force 39 (McCraw 8), Long Beach St. 37 (Nixon 9). Assists – Air Force 13 (Anderson, McCraw 4), Long Beach St. 13 (Johnson, Nixon 4). Total fouls – Air Force 16, Long Beach St. 25. A – N/A.
