Air Force bounces back with win over Tennessee State

So much for the post-embarrassment hangover. This time, it was nowhere to be found.

If Air Force was feeling gloom after an overtime defeat to Division III Colorado College, it never showed Saturday in undoubtedly its most energized effort of the season, as Evan Washington ignited the Falcons to an 87-72 win over Tennessee State at Clune Arena.

Three days removed from its first setback against a non-Division I school in 14 years, Air Force utilized a hard-rotating zone defense to keep Tennessee State on the perimeter, and the Tigers struggled, shooting 9-of-35 from 3-point range. Tennessee State (1-3) entered with a major size advantage, but the slate was evened with Robert Covington, its leading scorer and top rebounder last season, limited to eight points because of foul trouble.

With Washington running the controls, Air Force (2-1) offset 16 turnovers by shooting 62 percent, and it displayed much-improved ball movement, getting 24 assists on 31 baskets. Five Falcons tallied in double figures – Tom Fow and Michael Lyons recorded 17 points apiece; Washington had 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with nine rebounds and five assists; Taylor Broekhuis set a career high with 13 points; and Derek Brooks scored 11.

“Our focus was totally different” compared with the CC game, said Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds, whose team held a 32-31 advantage on the boards, outscored Tennessee State 46-18 in the paint and generated 15 points off as many turnovers by the Tigers.

Reynolds added, “You hate to take something like that to have to learn from, but I think they’ve learned from it. It wasn’t as catastrophic as some people thought. Ohio State lost to Findlay (in a 2007 exhibition). It happens. Did I want it to happen? No. But we showed some mental toughness and some maturity that we didn’t show Wednesday night.”

Washington sparked a 14-3 run midway through the first half that put Air Force ahead for good after Tennessee State, picked seventh in the 10-team Ohio Valley Conference on the heels of a 9-23 finish, had taken a 12-6 lead with a 9-0 spurt. He dished to Broekhuis for a bucket that got Air Force within 12-11, then he scored in transition for an 18-15 lead.

The Falcons pulled ahead 29-22 at intermission, closing the half on a 9-3 streak, with five points from Lyons and four from Brooks. They took a 39-26 lead in the opening minutes of the second half, as Fow contributed the final five points of a 10-0 burst, and after Todd Fletcher made two free throws on a technical foul by Tennessee State coach John Cooper and Washington scored on an acrobatic lay-up, Air Force held a 50-31 advantage.

“We came out with some passion and some fire,” Broekhuis said. “We got a wakeup call on Wednesday, and now, it’s just no expectations for us, and it’s us against the world. So it’s time for us to prove everyone else wrong.”

After falling to CC, Washington said “we reflected on it, came in as a team, talked about it, and we moved on from it. It’s something in the past. We’re going to remember it – to never come out like we did in that game. I think we can use that to our advantage.”