AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—A great weight has been lifted from Air Force’s shoulders.
Evan Washington scored eight of his career-high 23 points in the final 1:21 as Air Force snapped a 22-game Mountain West Conference losing streak Saturday with a 70-63 victory over Wyoming.
The win was the first conference victory for the Falcons (9-11, 1-6) since March 5, 2008, and it snapped a six-game losing streak. They held the Cowboys (9-12, 2-5) to 5-of-22 3-point shooting and scored nine of their final 13 points from the free throw line.
“We made free throws when we needed to,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half, but in the second half we shot it the way we do in practice. We got some shots at the rim, but their length really bothered us.”
The Falcons used a 16-4 second-half run to take a 49-42 lead with 8:42 remaining, but the Cowboys responded with eight straight points to go ahead 50-49 with 5:56 left. The lead was their last.
The Falcons hit 7 of 11 shots from beyond the arc in the second half and took the lead for good on Washington’s jumper with 5:35 remaining.
“It felt great, and I have to compare it to winning a championship by getting that monkey off our back,” Washington said. “Last year we let losing become part of our mentality, but I think we have a tougher team this year. I really wanted to be that guy who stepped up and made free throws.”
Michael Lyons had 16 points for Air Force, and Grant Parker added 12. Desmar Jackson led Wyoming with 21 points, and Amath M’Baye had 11 and JayDee Luster and Djibril Thiam each had 10.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow, but my hat’s off to Jeff (Reynolds),” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. “We came here and thought our game plan was pretty good, even though (Air Force) went on a roll there and knocked down a couple 3s against the zone we played. I think that was the difference.”
Air Force began the game with an 11-2 run after hitting its first three 3-pointers but hit just one of its next 11 attempts from 3-point range. Wyoming capitalized with a 10-0 run to take the lead and held a 29-26 advantage at the break.
Wyoming played without leading scorer Afam Muojeke, who is out for the season after rupturing the patella tendon in his left knee Jan. 20 against BYU. He was the conference’s third-leading scorer at 16.8 points per game.
The Cowboys were also without 6-10 center Adam Waddell, who injured his ankle Wednesday while scoring 13 points and grabbing 22 rebounds in a win over Utah.
