Falcons win Mountain West play-in game 59-40 over Wyoming

LAS VEGAS • It’s been an extremely tough season for the Air Force men’s basketball team. But that doesn’t mean the Falcons want it to end.

Air Force played arguably its best game of the entire 2009-10 campaign Wednesday, defeating Wyoming 59-40 in the Mountain West Conference play-in game at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Senior forward/center Grant Parker scored 15 points, freshman guard Michael Lyons had 11 and junior forward Tom Fow and freshman guard Todd Fletcher added nine apiece for the Falcons, who won the tournament play-in game for the second season in a row. Air Force (10-20) will face New Mexico, the tournament’s top seed and the nation’s eighth-ranked team, in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Air Force made 23-of-48 shots from the floor, had more assists (15) than turnovers (10) for just the fourth time in 17 games against MWC foes and played with an energy and intensity that permeated all aspects of the game.

Players attacked the rim on drives and the glass after misses. They fought hard through screens, flew to the perimeter to contest 3-point shots (Wyoming missed 14-of-16 from behind the arc) and dived on the floor for loose balls. Junior guard Evan Washington and senior center Mike McLain both ended up in a pile next to the Falcons’ bench with Wyoming’s Ryan Dermody in the second half after chasing a rebound out of bounds.

“Loose ball, I’m going to get it. Wild rebound, I’m going to get it – that was my mentality going into the game,” McLain said. “Anything that I could do to help the team, I’m going to do it. And I think that was the mentality of a lot of the guys.”

The Falcons scored on six straight possessions midway through the first half to build a 21-11 lead, and they led by 11 at the half. Air Force led by double-digits for most of the second half, but Wyoming seemed poised to make a move when freshman guard Desmar Jackson (game-high 18 points) and sophomore center Adam Waddell (12 points) scored back-to-back baskets to cut the Falcons’ lead to 47-40.

But Air Force would not be denied and ended the game on a 12-0 run. Parker scored on a strong move inside to make it 49-40, and moments later Fletcher drove directly to the hole after the Falcons broke the press and scored while he was fouled.

“That kind of put them away,” Parker said.