AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—With two teams determined to play vastly different games, it was Air Force’s will that won out against Virginia Military Institute.
Michael Lyons had 20 points and Taylor Broekhuis added 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to lead Air Force to a 75-65 win over VMI in the championship game of the inaugural All-Military Classic Saturday night.
The Falcons (2-0) used pressure defense and strong rebounding to stifle the Keydets (1-1), the NCAA’s top-scoring team each of the past five seasons. Air Force won the rebounding battle 41-29 and held VMI to 39.3 percent shooting from the field.
“It was big for us to come out with a lot of energy, because we knew they were going to come out with a lot of energy,” Broekhuis said. “One of the key points in the locker room was to play our pace and not let them speed us up and run us over. Our biggest emphases this year are defense and rebounding, and that’s been one of our biggest things in practice.
“We were able to put our practice into a game tonight.”
Air Force imposed its methodical half-court offense against VMI, scoring several baskets as time ran out on the shot clock.
“We wanted this tournament to be like our Commander-in-Chief’s trophy,” said Lyons, who was named the tournament’s MVP. “We wanted to prove that we’re the best military team and that we’re better than last year. We know they like to run and gun, so we wanted to stop them defensively and then take our time on offense.”
VMI cut Air Force’s lead to 62-54 with 5:44 remaining, but the Falcons answered every basket down the stretch.
“It’s a great early-season win for us against a very good opponent,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “Our goal was to be very good with our decision-making, and I thought our guys did that tonight. I thought we did a very good job defensively.”
Ron Burks had 15 points, Keith Gabriel 14, Michael Sparks 13 and Rodney Glasgow 10 for the Keydets, who were 10 for 30 on 3-point attempts.
“It comes down to a battle of wills, and their will prevailed,” VMI coach Duggar Baucom said. “They do a really good job guarding, and they made us rely on the 3-point shot and we didn’t make any. Jeff (Reynolds) had those guys ready to play, and they have a nice team.”
Todd Fletcher tied his career-high for assists set the night before with seven for Air Force, and had just one turnover.
The fast-paced first 20 minutes was a half of runs. Air Force opened a 16-8 lead, but the Keydets charged back with 13 unanswered points for a five-point advantage. The Falcons responded with a 17-0 run en route to a 38-28 lead at the break.
