AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—Falcons coach Jeff Reynolds can’t bring himself to slip Andrew Henke into the starting lineup.
He’s too valuable as an energy source off the bench.
Henke scored a career-high 19 points, Evan Washington added 12 and Air Force snapped a three-game slide, hanging on to beat Wyoming 72-66 on Saturday.
“We talked about starting him,” Reynolds said. “But we’re not going to mess with it.”
Henke’s fine with not starting—as long as he’s out there at the end.
“My job is to give us a lift,” Henke said.
He’s been doing just that, coming off the bench to score in double figures in each of the last three games.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good lately,” he said with a grin.
That’s because he’s keeping teams honest by no longer sitting on the wing, flinging up shots. He’s added a pump fake to his repertoire.
“People were flying at me,” Henke said. “They were sending the kitchen sink at me for a while. Now, they can’t play me so aggressive. I’m taking what the defense gives me. I’ll drive around them if they fly at me.”
The Falcons (13-11, 5-6 Mountain West Conference) were lethargic in the opening minutes of the game, falling behind by as many as 12 points. Reynolds blamed the fatigue on an emotional loss against UNLV on Tuesday.
“We had no energy, we were walking in sand,” Reynolds said. “They were drained. I made some subs to get the energy going.”
Henke helped provide that energy as Air Force closed out the first half on a 19-6 run to take a 32-31 lead at halftime.
The Falcons extended their lead to as many as 19 points in the second half before hanging on down the stretch. Air Force has now won four of its last five against Wyoming.
“We were just out of it, but thankfully found a way to battle through it,” said Reynolds, whose team didn’t help their cause by going 8-for-14 from the line over the final three minutes. “We had to scramble tonight.”
Brandon Ewing, the league’s second-leading scorer, finished with 18 points, but was held in check for most of the second half as he scored just seven, all in the final 3:11 of the game.
Tyson Johnson had 12 points while Brad Jones and Eric Platt each contributed 11. The Cowboys (10-14, 3-8) haven’t won at Clune Arena since 2003.
“Air Force is a good team,” said Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer, whose team outrebounded Air Force 33-22, but had 17 turnovers. “These guys have played the same way, played the same system. They’re a tough team to play—it’s like playing the wishbone in football.”
Ewing said the Falcons simply didn’t give the Cowboys any good looks, especially in the second half. But that’s nothing new.
“They’re a great defensive team,” said Ewing, who played all 40 minutes. “They execute well, they’re well-coached and they did a great job of adjusting at halftime. We didn’t knock down enough shots.”
Air Force was struggling at Clune Arena before Saturday, dropping two straight conference games. Coming into the season, the Falcons were almost invincible at home, winning 56 of 58 since 2003-04. The team is 10-3 at home this season.
“I think what the win does is it gives us confidence going down the stretch,” said Anwar Johnson, who had 11 points. “I think we were focused on what we had to do and that was to get stops. When we do that, we can be successful every time out on the court.”
