Falcons top UCCS in men's basketball

Air Force started its season with a 66-53 win over Division II University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, but in reality neither team actually lost.

The Falcons played impressive defense in the first half and had good outside shooting, but let the record show the Mountain Lions are still 0-0.

The reason for this rare occurrence is that it was a regular-season game for Air Force, while it was an exhibition for UCCS.

After originally scheduling the game as a regular-season contest, the Mountain Lions’ schedule was then too full when the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule they play switched to a 22-game season from 19, resulting in only four allowed non-conference games.

Michael Lyons was the high-scorer for Air Force with 17 points and Tom Fow added 14 on 3-of-5 shooting on 3-pointers. The Falcons had five players score in double figures.

“That’s what we’re going to try for every day because that’s the best way,” Fow said of having multiple scoring threats. “With everybody firing and doing well offensively, it’s hard to guard, it’s hard to stop.”

The Falcons led 32-15 at the half after allowing only six points in the first 14 minutes, while forcing seven UCCS turnovers during that span.

UCCS used 8-0 and 11-2 runs in the second half to pull closer, but going 1-for-13 from 3-point range doomed the Mountain Lions.

“We have great shooters on this team that got good looks tonight and they just didn’t go down,” said Rob Howe, who scored 12 points and made the only UCCS 3-pointer. “Sometimes, for whatever reason, they just don’t go in.”

UCCS shot 48 percent in the second half compared to 19 percent in the first. The Mountain Lions were led by Brent Jones, who had 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Air Force defense seemed to ease up once the team built a 27-point lead, something coach Jeff Reynolds attributed to his team’s inexperience.

“Early on we could do a little bit of about whatever we wanted to and it was 50-23,” Reynolds said. “And I felt like at that point we showed our youthfulness, our lack of maturity.”

Regardless of the score, the Falcons are happy to start with a win.

“It feels good, we were anticipating this game a lot,” Lyons said. “It’s real big (to get wins early on) because it gives us confidence going into conference.”