Air Force Academy
Yale
Men's Basketball Defeats Yale 68-62
11/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov 13, 2001
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Lamoni Yazzie was 4-of-5 from 3-point range and scored a career-high 21 points to lead Air Force to a 68-62 victory over Yale Tuesday night in the first round of the inaugural Guardians Classic.
Joel Gerlach was 4-for-4 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line in scoring 14 points for the Falcons, who shot 57 percent from the field, while Robert Todd added 12 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Air Force (1-0) advanced to Wednesday's second round against No. 8 Missouri, which beat Tennessee-Martin, 89-63.
Yale (0-1), which went scoreless for the opening 6:02, trailed 33-19 after Air Force closed the half with a 26-13 run, sparked by a pair of three-pointers by Yazzie in the final 1:05 of the half.
Yazzie scored 11 points in the first half, hitting all four of his shots, including three 3-pointers. Todd and Gerlach added nine and eight, respectively, as the three players combined for 28 of the Falcons' 33 points. Air Force shot 60 percent in the first half (12-for-20).
The Falcons moved their lead to 20 at the 11:05 mark of the second half at 47-27, then Yale began a 26-12 run that spanned 8:59 and saw Air Force make only one field goal. A jumper by Yale's Alex Gamboa made it 59-53, but that's as close as the Bulldogs got. Yazzie made a layup at the 1:42 mark to extend the Falcons' lead to 61-53, and Todd hit a three-pointer as the shot clock was ready to expire with 1:03 left to put the game away for Air Force.
Paul Vitelli had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Yale, which shot only 37.5 percent.
This is the second straight season-opening victory for Air Force, which defeated Houston, 59-53, in the first round of the BCA Classic last year.
