Lyons saves Air Force from embarrassing defeat
A clutch shot from Michael Lyons and some key defensive stops helped save Air Force from a potentially devastating loss.
Lyons’ bank shot in transition with 14.6 seconds left snapped a tie with Maryland-Eastern Shore, then Lyons grabbed a rebound off a miss and sank two free throws with 2.8 seconds left, giving Air Force a 64-60 win at Clune Arena on Saturday night.
The Falcons improved to 6-2, and although it was admittedly not a great performance against one of the lowest ranked teams in Division I men’s basketball, it was a win.
“It’s a game of grit,” said Air Force center Taylor Broekhuis, who had a career-best 20 points. “We didn’t play how we wanted to play to start out, but they made their runs and even though we weren’t playing great, we withstood their attacks and pulled out a win.”
Maryland-Eastern Shore is 3-9, but not as good as that record. The Hawks were ranked 339th of 345 Division I teams on the statistics site kenpom.com, directly behind a 0-10 Hartford team and a 0-7 Binghamton team.
But Maryland-Eastern Shore had the ball in a tie game with less than 30 seconds left. The Hawks turned the ball over, leading to a fast break. Lyons went right to the basket, Maryland-Eastern Shore 6-foot-9 forward Pina Guillaume fell, leaving Lyons with a clear look at the basket. He banked in the shot to give the Falcons the lead.
“I was just focused on the hoop, and I had the confidence I was going to make it,” Lyons said.
Air Force played great defense on three consecutive Maryland-Eastern Shore possessions in the final 1:30. The Hawks could have taken the lead or tied the game on the possession after Lyons’ shot, but a contested shot missed badly.
Air Force struggled inside, allowing 17 offensive rebounds and 11 baskets in the paint, and hit just 1-of-10 3-point shots in the second half when the Hawks went to a zone defense. But after losing tight games against Colorado and Drake, the Falcons weren’t apologizing for the last-minute win.
“It’s good for us to win that kind of a game,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said.
