LAS VEGAS — Air Force men’s basketball coach Jeff Reynolds could hardly celebrate his team’s first conference tournament victory in 19 years, which doubled as the Falcons’ first win in 2009.
After Air Force sent Colorado State packing Wednesday 71-67 in the Mountain West Conference Tournament play-in game, Reynolds was clearly in discomfort en route to his news conference with what he believed was a kidney stone.
“They say it’s worse than having a baby. I think it is,” Reynolds said.
The Falcons’ big victory after going 0-16 in MWC play took some of the edge off Reynolds’ pain.
“They’ve heard all the naysayers. And they’ve never quit believing,” he said.
For the last 10 games, Reynolds saw his young team start to play like some Air Force teams of recent seasons, controlling the tempo and making a high percentage of shots from the field.
The Rams were in front most of the way after falling behind 2-0 and led 45-38 with 13:15 left. But AFA scored the next 10 points, taking the lead for good with 11:04 remaining when Evan Washington launched a 3-pointer.
Andrew Henke, who this season scored a career-high 29 points against the Rams in a 71-66 loss at the academy, delivered two critical 3-pointers in the final 4:35 to seal the win.
“The last time we won was in the year 2008,” Henke said of a Dec. 28 decision over Dartmouth. “We didn’t feel the need to celebrate afterward. I mean, we’re out here to take care of business.”
Although CSU guard Marcus Walker finished his career with a game-high 20 points, both of his 3-pointers came in the final seven seconds.
“Marcus Walker wasn’t able to take the game over like he did at our place,” Reynolds said of CSU’s 71-66 win.
Walker and Willis Gardner, the only other senior for the Rams (9-22), clearly didn’t want their careers to end so early in the tournament. But they were winless last year in conference play and won the play-in game, and they knew going in that Air Force was determined to do the same.
“It’s a tough loss, a tough way to go out,” Gardner said.
Washington, who scored a career-high 18 points against the Rams, was the key in keeping the Falcons within range in the first half.
Despite trailing early by nine points, the Falcons put themselves in position to take the lead going into halftime and trailed 33-30 after Gardner’s buzzer shot.
AFA (10-20) draws top seed BYU (24-6) at 1 p.m. today in the quarterfinals opener at the Thomas & Mack Center. Air Force nearly upset the Cougars in Provo, Utah, last Saturday before falling 54-49.
AIR FORCE (10-20)
Holland 1-1 0-0 2, Johnson 7-10 1-4 15, Schafer 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 1-5 0-0 2, Merriex 0-1 0-0 0, Henke 5-8 6-6 18, Noonan 2-5 0-0 4, Washington 5-5 6-8 18, Parker 5-7 1-1 12. Totals 26-43 14-19 71.
COLORADO STATE (9-22)
McFarland 2-6 0-0 6, Ogide 4-5 2-3 10, Walker 8-18 2-2 20, Perry 2-3 0-0 5, Gardner 4-9 0-0 11, Franklin 0-1 2-4 2, Nigon 0-1 0-0 0, Dunn 1-3 5-7 8, Bocar Ba 0-0 5-6 5. Totals 21-46 16-22 67.
Halftime — Colorado St. 33-30. 3-point goals — Air Force 5-16 (Washington 2-2, Henke 2-4, Parker 1-3, Merriex 0-1, Schafer 0-1, Noonan 0-2, Stewart 0-3), Colorado St. 9-23 (Gardner 3-6, McFarland 2-5, Walker 2-8, Dunn 1-2, Perry 1-2). Fouled out — Perry. Rebounds — Air Force 20 (Washington 7), Colorado St. 25 (Walker 6). Assists — Air Force 12 (Johnson 3), Colorado St. 14 (Gardner 5). Total fouls — Air Force 19, Colorado St. 22. A — NA.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
Flying high
Wednesday’s win is one of the few bright spots in AFA’s postseason history. Some numbers:
19 — Years since their previous conference tournament win, a 58-51 victory over CSU in the 1990 Western Athletic Conference.
.120 — Winning percentage (3-22) for the Falcons in the WAC (1980-1999) and MWC (2000-2009) conference tournaments after Wednesday’s win.
0 — NCAA Tournament victories, with losses in 1960, 1962, 2004 and 2006
3-1 — Record in the NIT, all games in 2007, when they reached the semifinals
