Same sad story for struggling Falcons

FORT COLLINS • Moby Arena on Tuesday seemed like the perfect place and time for Air Force to stop its downward spiral.

The Falcons were facing a Colorado State team that had lost 20 of its previous 21 Mountain West Conference regular-season games and had fallen to Air Force eight times in a row and in 11 of the teams' past 12 meetings.

And, most notably, the Rams took the court without four players, including their leading scorer.

But in front of an announced crowd of 3,266, the Falcons lost to Colorado State 67-56.
And their spiral became a free fall.

"It hurts," said senior Matt Holland, who scored a game-high 25 points and made 7-of-11 3-point tries. "They had four key guys that didn't play tonight, and we still couldn't get it done."

The loss was Air Force's seventh in its past eight games and sixth in a row - its longest streak of futility since it ended the 2001-02 season with seven straight defeats.

The Rams improved to 7-12 and 2-3 in the MWC, and the Falcons fell to 9-9 and 0-5 - their worst start in league play since the 1997-98 season when they played in the Western Athletic Conference. Air Force is the only team in the MWC without a victory in league play.

While blowout losses to Utah and New Mexico were embarrassing and a three-point loss to TCU on Saturday stung, Tuesday's loss was borderline inexplicable.

The Rams, already without 6-foot-10, 260-pound sophomore center Dan Vandervieren (back spasms), announced before the game that sophomore guard Josh Simmons had left the team and that guards Harvey Perry and Marcus Walker - the team's top scorer - would not play because of academic issues. And their starting point guard, senior Willis Gardner, was playing even though he was sick and had been throwing up throughout the day.

But Gardner managed 11 points to lead the inspired Rams, while the Falcons played like he felt.

They missed 13 of their 22 free-throw attempts. They turned the ball over 14 times. They missed a handful of layups. And they allowed the league's worst shooting team to make 20-of-39 shots, including 9-of-18 from 3-point range.

Air Force, which led by two at the half, trailed 40-39 with 11:58 left after a dunk by Evan Washington. But Colorado State went on a 17-7 run to take control.

"I think guys are just trying too hard," Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. "They gave a good effort, they're just trying too hard. We'll shake it and put our best foot forward in the next game."

NEXT
Air Force at Wyoming, 6 p.m. Tuesday, The mtn., 740 AM