AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—Three days after arguably the worst loss in team history, Air Force responded with a vengeance.
Michael Lyons and Tom Fow led five Falcons in double figures with 17 points each, and Air Force shot 62 percent from the field in an 87-72 win over Tennessee State on Saturday night.
The win came three days after the Falcons (2-1) fell to a Division III opponent for the first time in school history, a 60-57 overtime loss to Colorado College on Nov. 17.
“We kind of got a wake-up call Wednesday, and now it’s us against the world,” said Air Force center Taylor Broekhuis, who had a career-high 13 points. “It’s time for us to prove everyone else wrong. We came out with some passion and some fire tonight. We’ve got some hunger, and we’re ready to go.”
Evan Washington had 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds for the Falcons, and Derek Brooks scored 11.
The Tigers (1-3) scored the first four points of the second half to cut Air Force’s lead to 29-26, but the Falcons went on a 10-0 run to take a 39-26 lead on a 3-pointer by Fow with 16:53 remaining. Air Force outscored Tennessee State 21-5 in the first five minutes of the second half to pull away.
“Today, our focus was totally different,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “(The loss) wasn’t as catastrophic as some people thought. Ohio State lost to Findlay last year. It happens.
“You hate to have something like that to learn from, but I think they’ve learned from it. Tonight, we showed some mental toughness and maturity that we didn’t show Wednesday night.”
Air Force’s offense clicked at Clune Arena, as the Falcons continually broke Tennessee State’s press in the second half and had 24 assists on their 31 field goals.
“We have a more versatile and deep team this year,” Washington said. “Usually, teams only have one or two main scorers, but this year we have three or four. I think that’s going to help us out in the long run.”
Kenny Moore led Tennessee State with 18 points, while Patrick Miller added 16 and Jaquan Nobles 11.
The Tigers’ downfall was their 9 of 35 shooting (25.7 percent) from 3-point range, but they were 21 for 23 from the free-throw line.
“To a certain degree, I think it was a meltdown,” Tennessee State coach John Cooper said. “We seemed to come apart at times, and when you play a team like Air Force, you can’t afford to rush when you do get down. Obviously, we didn’t play very well, but Air Force did a great job and Jeff had his team really prepared. They came out with great energy and had a sense of aggressiveness to them.”
Tennessee State built a 12-6 lead in the game’s first six minutes, but Air Force responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead for good. The Tigers cut the Falcons’ lead to 23-22 with 3:26 remaining in the first half, but Air Force closed the half with a 6-0 surge for a 29-22 advantage at intermission.
Both teams struggled from 3-point range in the first half, with Air Force connecting on just 3 of 10 attempts, Tennessee State 5 of 16.
