Air Force Academy
New Mexico
Falcons Defeat New Mexico, 68-60
3/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2003
USAFA, Colo. -- Despite having to wait through a one hour delay as the New Mexico team bus was stuck in traffic getting to Clune Arena, the Air Force Falcons shot 62 percent from the floor and defeated the Lobos, 68-60, Saturday in its final regular season game.
Air Force (12-15, 3-11 MWC) used a 10-0 second half run to break open a tight game. Trailing 33-32 at the 17:13 mark of the second half, Air Force forward Joel Gerlach hit back-to-back threes to spark a 16-4 Falcon run over the next eight minutes. New Mexico was held scoreless for nearly five minutes as AFA scored 10-straight to build a 48-37 lead. UNM (10-17, 4-10 MWC) twice whittled the Air Force lead down to five points in the final minutes of play, but was unable to close the gap completely.
The Falcons made 24 of their 39 attempts from the floor as they defeated UNM for the third consecutive time at Clune Arena. Gerlach scored 18 points to lead three Falcons in double figures, followed by Tim Keller with 16. AFA's nation-leading scoring defense held the country's leading-scorer, UNM senior guard Ruben Douglas, to just 15 points on 4-18 shooting. Freshman Mark Walters posted career-highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds.
Air Force will be the No. 8 seed in the upcoming Mountain West Conference Tournament where it will face top-seeded Utah on Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. MT.
