Air Force Academy – Jacob Burtschi did it.
In fact, the senior forward did it the entire game for Air Force, scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds Wednesday night. But he saved his best for last, scoring with seven seconds left to lift the Falcons to a 52-51 victory over DePaul in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.
DePaul had a final chance to win, but a last-second shot by Draelon Burns from 3-point range over Air Force’s Anwar Johnson rimmed out, and the Clune Arena crowd of 5,672 was treated to several verses of “New York, New York.”
“If that shot had gone in, I would have shot myself,” Burt- schi said.
Yes, this never-say-die band of Air Force players and coach Jeff Bzdelik is off to New York’s Madison Square Garden to play Clemson (24-10) on Tuesday in the NIT semifinals. But it will take that long for the Falcons to catch their breath after a finish that brought hordes of fans onto the court to celebrate with their 26-8 team, which recently was reeling from a four-game losing streak that probably took it out of the NCAA Tournament.
“We could have easily threw in the towel and said we’re in the NIT and let’s just stop playing,” said senior guard Matt McCraw, who also had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Falcons. “This team has so much heart. Having never won a national tournament postseason game and winning three straight is remarkable. Coach said something that hit home. He said in life you’re not always given a second chance. This was our last home game and it was our second chance.”
Said Bzdelik: “These guys are incredible. Their will and desire and dedication is incredible. We never panicked and we stayed the course and we made a big play at the end.”
The Falcons trailed 51-50 when they got the ball with 16 seconds left. They brought the ball quickly down the court and got it to Burtschi on the right side. He had missed a layup earlier, but not this time.
DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright put his 20-14 team into a stall down the stretch to conserve energy after the Blue Demons’ 70-65 victory at Kansas State.
“We were in a heavyweight fight Monday night at Kansas State,” Wainwright said. “The longer we could stand and shorten the game, the better. I’d rather play five minutes than 20 minutes at this time. That’s where the turnovers hurt us. When you do that, you at least have to get a shot.”
But the Blue Demons didn’t convert after using up most of the shot clock on each possession. They had 13 turnovers for the game.
There were many heroes for Air Force. Down seven points as the second half moved to the halfway mark, the Falcons started cutting their deficit. They tied it at 41-41 on McCraw’s two free throws with 9:02 left.
During one stretch as the game moved to the last 1:50, the lead changed hands on four shots. Junior guard Tim Anderson came up with two huge steals for Air Force, and senior forward Dan Nwaelele came on strong at the end to reach double figures with 10 points. The Falcons finished with only four turnovers.
It all came down to DePaul’s final shot by Burns.
Bzdelik was asked if he thought it was in. He paused.
Air Force senior center Nick Welch answered for him.
“We did, too,” Welch said.
Their sights were off.
DEPAUL (20-14)
Clarke 1-1 1-1 3, Chandler 4-10 0-0 12, Thompson 0-2 0-0 0, Burns 6-12 1-2 18, Mejia 3-6 1-2 7, Currie 2-2 0-0 5, Green 0-5 0-0 0, Clinkscales 0-0 0-0 0, Heard 2-4 0-0 4, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Butler 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 19-43 3-5 51.
AIR FORCE (26-8)
Burtschi 6-16 1-2 13, Nwaelele 3-7 2-2 10, Welch 5-9 0-2 10, McCraw 4-8 2-2 13, Anderson 2-5 0-0 4, Henke 0-4 0-0 0, Teets 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Frye 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 5-8 52.
Halftime – Air Force 29-26. 3-point goals – DePaul 10-21 (Burns 5-10, Chandler 4-7, Currie 1-1, Heard 0-1, Mejia 0-2); Air Force 5-17 (McCraw 3-4, Nwaelele 2-4, Welch 0-1, Anderson 0-1, Henke 0-1, Frye 0-1, Burtschi 0-5). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – DePaul 34 (Chandler 10); Air Force 25 (Burtschi 8, McCraw 8). Assists – DePaul 12 (Currie 6), Air Force 13 (Burtschi 4). Total fouls – DePaul 10, Air Force 12. A – 5,672.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
