Las Vegas – Nevada-Las Vegas shut down Air Force through the last 4:06 to defeat the Falcons 60-50 Tuesday night, the outcome tightening the race at the top in the Mountain West Conference.
The Falcons had their chances in a race-horse finish, but were unable to capitalize on defensive rebounding by Nick Welch and Jacob Burtschi. The Rebels clinched it on a pair of free throws by Kevin Kruger with 50 seconds left.
With the victory, UNLV moved into a second place tie with the Falcons, both at 10-4, behind BYU in the MWC. The 14th-ranked Falcons fell to 23-5 for the season.
The Rebels opened some breathing room with a 10-1 run as the second half moved into the last five minutes. Two free throws by Kevin Kruger made it 58-47 with 4:29 left.
Before that it had been a game-long struggle with the Falcons clawing for the lead from right behind the Rebels.
The hide and seek continued through the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Rebels kept the lead, but found the Falcons right behind.
But the task for the Falcons got tougher when Kruger hit three free throws when fouled by Nick Welch and the Rebels and the margin grew to 43-36 on a three-point play by Wink Adams.
But Dan Nwaelele’s 3-pointer made it 48-46 going into the last 10 minutes.
No matter how hard the Rebels tried to run away from Air Force in the first half, they found the Falcons right behind.
Two 3-pointers by Andrew Henke and Welch in the last minute cut UNLV’s margin to 31-30 at halftime.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
