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Air Force's season ends with 80-69 loss to BYU
Falcons men were close in MWC tourney but fall short
LAS VEGAS • Air Force’s season is finished — just as the Falcons finally seemed to be getting started.
Top-seeded BYU defeated Air Force 80-69 on Thursday in the Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinals at the Thomas and Mack Center. But the Cougars needed every last bit of moxie and confidence they’ve acquired during three straight MWC regular-season championship campaigns to do it.
“Air Force plays really hard,” BYU junior forward Jonathan Tavernari said. “We couldn’t really put them away.”
The Falcons led at halftime, erased a nine-point BYU lead in the second half and trailed 68-65 when freshman center Sammy Schafer completed a three-point play with just less than 4 minutes remaining. But Tavernari answered with a 3-pointer, senior Lee Cummard followed with a jumper and the Cougars iced the game at the free-throw line, where they made 29-of-37 shots.
BYU, which improved to 25-6, advanced to the semifinals where it will face San Diego State tonight.
The Falcons finished 10-21 — their worst record since the 2001-02 campaign. But after routinely getting blown out early in conference play, they were a new team in late February and early March. They lost their last four regular-season games by a combined 16 points, defeated Colorado State on Wednesday to snap a 17-game losing streak and then put a scare into the Cougars.
The late improvement gave Air Force’s three seniors a respectable finish to their careers and — with several members of a talented freshman class making major contributions — provided hope that the Falcons eventually could return to the winning ways of the previous five seasons.
Midway through the second half Thursday, it appeared as if Air Force might get back to those ways this season. Senior Andrew Henke hit a 3-pointer and then a pair of free throws, and senior Anwar Johnson (game-high 24 points) followed by converting a three-point play and then two more free throws to put Air Force up 54-53 with 11:49 to play.
But soon after, the game was over. And so was the season.
“It does seem like it was cut short a little bit, like it just started getting rolling,” Henke said. “But that’s the way it goes. … The last couple weeks we really just kept fighting, kept fighting, despite all the unfortunate things that have happened to us.
“I think we can be proud of that.”
