Air Force Academy
Arkansas St
Air Force Shoots Down Arkansas State, 57-52
11/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2002
JONESBORO, Ark.- Joel Gerlach scored 24 points and Tim Keller added a career-high 19 for the Falcons of Air Force as they defeated Arkansas State in men's basketball, 57-52, here Friday night.
Gerlach, a sophomore forward from Littleton, Colo., hit 7-of-12 shots from the field and 8-of-10 free throw attempts to help the Falcons (2-1) claim their second straight win of the season. Paris London led ASU with 13 points on the night.
"They did a decent job defending us and we just couldn't hit the shots when we needed to hit the shots," said Arkansas State head coach Dickey Nutt. "I thought we broke down at the end and got nervous, then they hit like three or four layups in a row. That really broke our back."
The Indians led as late as 2:26 left to play in the game, when London hit the tail-end of a pair of free throws to give the Tribe a 50-49 advantage. But that is when Tom Bellairs, plagued all evening with foul trouble, came entered the game with four fouls and hit a five-footer to give the Falcons the lead for good.
"The key play of the game was when Timmy Keller got a pass on the right side and Tommy Bellairs cut back door right down the middle, and Keller caught it and zipped it to him and it was 50-49 at that time," said Air Force head coach Joe Scott. "That gave us a one point lead."
But despite the outcome of that play, Gerlach was the man for the Falcons on this night.
With the Falcons trailing 44-39 with 7:43 left in the game, Gerlach was fouled by ASU's Lucious Lenear. Gerlach nailed both attempts, then blocked a shot on ASU's next possession and then scored the next six points for the Falcons to help out the sputtering offense.
Scott was pleased with his budding star's effort on the night. "Gerlach wasn't in foul trouble (late in the game), but last year the guy was never in the game in the last four minutes and we lost all these games in the last two minutes," he said. "He's like, sort of, our go-to-guy. He can score inside, he can score outside, he played well."
For the Indians (1-2), London led the way in scoring, with 13 points, but hit just 4-of-13 shot attempts on the night. The Indians got outrebounded in the game as well, mainly due to Adams being in foul trouble all evening. Odie Williams, starting for the first time this season, dropped in 12 points for the Indians.
The Falcons, who won just one true road game all of last season, finishes their two-game road trip on Sunday at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. MST.
