Air Force Academy – Air Force rode a near-perfect shooting performance by Dan Nwaelele to a 78-66 victory over Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne at Clune Arena on Saturday.
Nwaelele, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, finished with a career-high 26 points. He made 6-of-7 field goals, including 3-of-3 on 3-point attempts, and went 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. His only miss was on a desperation drive to the basket as the shot clock expired.
“I was just focused out there and my teammates were looking for me,” Nwaelele said. “Our team is unselfish and we’re always looking for each other in passing the ball.”
Nwaelele converted key free throws to keep IPFW (3-5) from overtaking the Falcons (8-1), and his consecutive 3-pointers midway through the second half put the game out of reach.
Jakari Johnson made 5-of-9 3-point attempts in leading IPFW scorers with 19 points.Tim Anderson, the only non-senior among Air Force starters, scored 18 points and had a career-high four steals.
REGIS 67, MINN.-DULUTH 61 at Pueblo: Brandon Butler scored a game-high 33 points and Nick Winder added 19 points and seven rebounds to lead Regis (3-2) over Minnesota-Duluth (5-3) in the Chuck Stephens Memorial Classic at the State Fair Events Center.
Regis rallied from a 35-32 halftime deficit, despite 19 points from Duluth’s Jordan Nuness.
Women
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 76, COLORADO 57 at Boulder: Southern California’s Shay Murphy scored a career-high 33 points and the Trojans took advantage of Colorado’s poor shooting to win at the Coors Events Center.
Murphy scored on her first five shots and shot 13-of-19. She also added six steals, five rebounds and four assists to lead the Trojans.
USC jumped to a 22-5 lead in the first 11 minutes, as the Buffaloes made just two of their first 19 shots. Murphy combined with Morghan Medlock for 20 of the Trojans’ first 22 points.
Aija Putnina’s score with 8:40 remaining in the first stopped Colorado’s streak of 16 consecutive shots missed. From there, Colorado stormed back with a 21-12 run to end the first half.
“I think when you play more experienced teams like USC, it is a lot tougher to come back, but it’s not impossible,” Buffs coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said.
Jasmina Ilic scored eight of her season-high 22 points in that stretch and the Buffs cut the Trojans’ lead to 34-26 at halftime.
But the Trojans went on a 14-4 run to begin the second half that put the game out of reach. Putnina grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. CU’s Jackie McFarland had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
WESTERN MICHIGAN 71, AIR FORCE 54 at Air Force Academy: Carrie Moore led Western Michigan with a game-high 30 points to outduel Alecia Steele and the Falcons to win the championship game of the Air Force Classic. Steele earned her third double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Air Force (3-4). Sarah Dreher scored 11 points and Tiera DeLaHoussaye added 10 for the Broncos (3-6).
