Tennessee Tech Downs Air Force, 60-47
12/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2002
Damien Kinloch scored a game-high 23 points and Tennessee Tech held Air Force to just 19 points in the second half as the Eagles extended the second-longest home court winning streak in the nation to 32 with a 60-47 victory Sunday in Cookeville, Tenn.
Air Force (2-2) controlled the tempo of the game in the first half. The Falcons never trailed in the first stanza thanks to 78 percent shooting (7-of-9) from three-point range. Tim Keller made all four of his three-pointers in the first half and had 12 points at halftime.
AFA made its first four field goals, two three-pointers each by Keller and Joel Gerlach. Keller continued his hot touch, giving the Falcons a 16-13 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the first half. Marc Holum followed with a long-range shot of his own and two free throws by A.J. Kuhle gave AFA an 8-0 run and a 21-13 advantage.
The Eagles responded with four straight points, but a strong drive to the basket by Gerlach resulted in two free throws and a 23-17 lead with 7:50 left before halftime. Damien Kinloch sparked an 8-2 run with six points as the Eagles started getting the ball inside to tie the game at 25-all.
Keller's fourth three-pointer of the game with 1:07 left before halftime broke a six-minute scoreless streak and the Falcons took a 28-25 lead to the break.
The second half was a completely different story, as TTU (3-1) pounded the ball inside early in the second half, with Kinloch scoring the first six points to give the Eagles a 31-28 lead. Air Force had trouble getting shots off early in the stanza, and finally scored its first points of the half on a free throw by Gerlach with 15:18 remaining, snapping an 8-0 run by TTU right out of halftime.
The Eagles then went on a 10-0 run, capped by an alley-oop dunk by Milone Clark, to move the lead to 43-29. Air Force finally made its first field goal of the second half with 8:23 left on a Gerlach layup, which cut the Tech lead to 43-31. Three free throws by Kinloch gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the game 49-31.
The game was back and forth the rest of the way, with Air Force never getting closer than eight points. Tom Bellairs scored seven of his nine points in the final eight minutes.
Gerlach led Air Force with 17 points, while Keller was held scoreless in the second half and finished with 12.
Air Force returns home for a game against Texas-Pan American on Thursday, Dec. 5. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Clune Arena.
