AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Michael Lyons scored 17 points and Tom Fow added 14 to lead Air Force to a 66-53 victory Sunday over the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
The Falcons won their season- opener by connecting on 8-of-19 shots from 3-point range, and the visiting Mountain Lions were just 1-of-14 from beyond the arc.
“With our lack of size, we’ve got to shoot the ball,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “We shot 42 percent (from 3-point range), and I’ll take that every game. Coming into the game, we knew they were a really good 3-point shooting team, and I thought we did a good job of taking that away.”
The Falcons ran their series record against UCCS to 7-0 in a game that counted as an exhibition for the Division II Mountain Lions, who shot 34 percent from the field.
The Falcons had a balanced attack, with Taylor Broekhuis chipping in 11 points and Evan Washington adding 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
North Dakota State 65, Denver 54
EUGENE, Ore. — Eric Carlson scored 21 points as North Dakota State defeated the Pioneers in the final round of the BTI Invitational.
Brian Stafford led the Pioneers (0-3) with 15 points and Chase Hallam added 14 points.
Oregon had defeated DU 68-56 in a late game Saturday night.
Area women
Northern Colorado 79, Air Force 56
GREELEY — Sophomore forward Lauren Oosdyke led a contingent of five Bears in double figures with 15 points, and led the team with seven rebounds.
Top 25 men
No. 1 Duke 97, Princeton 60
DURHAM, N.C. — Nolan Smith scored 22 points as the Blue Devils opened their season with a win in the first round of the CBE Classic.
Freshman Kyrie Irving had 17 points and Kyle Singler added 16 for the Blue Devils, who shot 55 percent and hit 14 3-pointers.
No. 10 Syracuse 86, Canisius 67
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Rick Jackson had 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and Brandon Triche added 16 points for the Orange.
It was the 831st career victory for Orange coach Jim Boeheim, moving him past Jim Phelan of Mount St. Mary’s into fifth place all-time in Division I victories.
Top 25 women
No. 1 Connecticut 117, Holy Cross 37
STORRS, Conn. — Tiffany Hayes scored 32 points and Maya Moore added 21 as the Huskies extended their win streak to 79 games.
The 80-point margin of victory tied for the second-largest for UConn, which faces second-ranked Baylor on Tuesday.
No. 2 Baylor 95, Rice 51
WACO, Texas — Brittney Griner had 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks in 23 minutes for the Lady Bears.
The Associated Press
