Colorado overcomes Lyons' career night

Air Force fans should be thankful this holiday season — for being treated to a terrific performance from Michael Lyons on Wednesday.

Unfortunately for Falcon fans and players, the junior guard’s career-high night of 31 points wasn’t enough to overcome state rival Colorado, as the Buffaloes (3-2) escaped Clune Arena with a 76-73 overtime victory.

The game had nine lead changes and 11 ties, and in the second half neither team was able to pull away as Lyons traded baskets with the Buffs down the stretch.

“I felt good in warm ups,” said Lyons, who scored off the opening tip of the game to springboard his big night. “I talked to my parents and grandmother and they gave me confidence before the game.”

With the score tied at 65, CU’s Andre Roberson finally scored the go-ahead basket after three attempts at the rim with 11.5 seconds left to give CU a 67-65 lead. Roberson finished with 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

After an Air Force timeout, junior Mike Fitzgerald drove the lane and was fouled.

Fitzgerald calmly stepped to the line and made both free throws with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, after a long shot went wide for CU at the buzzer.

In overtime, Air Force (3-1) let some golden opportunities slip away. After a Fitzgerald 3-pointer put the Falcons up 72-69, a CU turnover led to a 2-on-1 fast break.

However, Todd Fletcher was denied on a layup attempt and the Buffaloes turned the Air Force miscue into a layup of their own, making it a one-point game again. The four-point turnaround proved to be crucial.

“We had a couple of mental breakdowns and it cost us,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “I can’t fault the players’ effort. We talked about it coming down to making solid, smart, simple decisions, and for the most part I thought we did that. We had our chances.”

CU would go on to take a 76-73 lead with 11 seconds left in overtime on a Roberson layup. When a Fletcher 3 just missed at the buzzer, the Falcons were left on the short end of the scoreboard.

“We’ve got to do a better job of keeping teams off the offensive glass; that’s what really hurts us when we lose games like this,” Lyons said. “It’s more mental, we’ve got to have mental toughness in these games, especially in clutch times.”

Air Force struggled mightily to keep the athletic Buffs off the boards, and was outrebounded 47-28, with several coming in big situations late in the game.

The other dagger for the Falcons came at the 3-point line, where they shot just 5-of-19. Conversely, the Buffs were 10-for-24, and were able to stay in the game despite committing 18 turnovers.

“We’ve been shooting 27 percent the whole year (from 3),” Reynolds said. “We had open shots but they didn’t go in. We’re just not shooting the 3 the way we’re capable of.”

Lyons’ 31 points were the most by a Falcon since Jarvis Croff had 31 against Utah in March of 2000.