Air Force Academy – With the final 17 seconds clicking off the clock, each member of the Air Force men’s basketball team kept reminding himself that one player couldn’t beat five.
But San Diego State’s Brandon Heath was defying the Falcons’ logic. And with seven seconds left, Air Force and a frantic crowd of 6,223 fans Saturday at Clune Arena learned the answer.
With guards Matt McCraw and Tim Anderson playing tight defense, Heath’s 3-point attempt fell short,Jacob Burtschi hauled in the crucial rebound and Air Force held on for a 56-51 victory over the defending Mountain West Conference champion Aztecs.
“Our team game overcame them,” senior center Nick Welch said after the 13th-ranked Falcons earned their 26th consecutive victory at home.
Heath scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, and his final shot came with Air Force nursing a 54-51 lead. Burtschi’s big defensive rebound led to a foul, and the 6-foot-6 senior’s two free throws clinched the win for the MWC-leading Falcons (18-2, 5-1).
“It was a big play. We knew Heath was going to take the shot,” Burtschi said. “It was contested and I knew he was going to come up short. I wanted to make sure that nobody else was going to get the rebound because there was enough time for them to kick it back to Heath for another chance to tie the game.”
Burtschi led the Falcons with game- high totals of 23 points and nine rebounds. But it took a team effort for the Falcons to send the Aztecs back to San Diego at 13-6 and 2-3.
“We needed to play a grind-it-out game against San Diego State,” AFA coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “They’re at their best when it becomes a high possession game. I felt we got it back today with a typical Air Force win by digging down deep defensively.”
The Falcons, coming off an 85-79 loss at Utah in which the Utes shot 70.7 percent from the field, limited the Aztecs to 39.6 percent shooting. The Falcons needed every ounce of defense to offset their worst shooting game of the season – 39 percent.
Air Force’s big advantage came at the free-throw line, making 15-of-20 compared with 6-of-10 for San Diego State.
“We put ourselves in a position to win,” Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said. “And against a team like Air Force, that’s all you can do. Unfortunately for us they made a play, and on our last opportunity we didn’t make it. This league will have a lot of games that will go just like this one did.”
With Heath fueling them, the Aztecs took their first lead of the game at 43-42 with 5:51 remaining. But McCraw answered Heath’s 3-pointer with one of his own. It was McCraw’s only 3-pointer of the game. Anderson quickly made his lone 3-pointer a big shot as well. With the Falcons’ offense out of sync and the shot clock winding down, Anderson connected and Air Force took a 48-43 lead with 4:22 left.
But it wasn’t over. Jerome Habel’s layup put San Diego State ahead 51-50 with only 1:06 left.
In the final minute, it was all Air Force. Dan Nwaelele’s short jump shot off an assist by Anderson regained the lead for the Falcons.
SAN DIEGO STATE (13-6, 2-3 MWC)
Wade 5-12 1-2 11, Spain 1-2 0-1 2, Abukar 2-10 2-2 6, Heath 5-17 2-2 15, Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Habel 7-9 1-3 15, Pastorek 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 6-10 51.
AIR FORCE (18-2, 5-1 MWC)
Burtschi 7-14 4-5 23, Nwaelele 4-9 2-2 11, Welch 2-5 5-6 10, McCraw 2-8 2-2 7, Anderson 1-3 0-0 3, Henke 0-1 2-5 2, Teets 0-0 0-0 0, Holland 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Frye 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-41 15-20 56.
Halftime – Air Force 23-17. 3-point goals – San Diego State 3-20 (Heath 3-11, Spain 0-1, Williams 0-2, Abukar 0-3, Wade 0-3); Air Force 9-26 (Burtschi 5-10, Nwaelele 1-3, Anderson 1-3, Welch 1-4, McCraw 1-5, Henke 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – San Diego State 32 (Heath 7, Wade 7); Air Force 31 (Burtschi 9). Assists – San Diego State 9 (Heath 3, Williams 3); Air Force 13 (Welch 4). Total fouls – San Diego State 18, Air Force 13. A – 6,223.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
