Air Force Academy
TCU
Falcons Come up Short Against TCU 59-56
1/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2012
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)- Hank Thorns scored 22 points and TCU held Air Force scoreless for the final 4:05 as the Horned Frogs beat the Falcons 59-56 on Wednesday night in Fort Worth.
J.R. Cadot added 13 points for TCU (12-7, 2-2 Mountain West). He was 7 for 7 from the free-throw line and also led the Horned Frogs in rebounds with seven.
Taylor Broekhuis led the Falcons (11-7, 1-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Mike Fitzgerald scored 14 points and Todd Fletcher scored 12 for Air Force.
The Falcons never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as seven early on. TCU took its first lead of the game at the 17:18 mark of the second half on a three-point play by Cadot and never trailed again. Air Force tied the game at 49 with 9:31 remaining on a short jumper by Michael Lyons, but TCU's Craig Williams put together a three-point play less than a minute later to give the Frogs the lead for good.
Fitzgerald, who scored seven of the Falcons' final 13 points, was fouled while making a layup and made the ensuing free throw to cut the lead to 57-56 with 4:05 left, but Air Force did not score again and Fletcher missed a three-pointer from the left wing as time expired that would have tied the game.
"They were pretty good defensively," said Air Force head coach Jeff Reynolds on TCU down the stretch. "We have been having problems putting the ball in the basket. We wanted to try get the drive or try to get to the free throw line. But I don't think it really came down to the last two possessions. I think we lost the game in the second half because of our inability to finish (defensively)."
Thorns' basket with 3:02 remaining represented the final points of the game. Air Force missed two shots, including Fletcher's last-second three-pointer, and committed two of its 11 turnovers in the final three minutes. Air Force shot 47.5 percent from the field and a season-best 88.2 percent from the free-throw line.
The Falcons return home to face UNLV on Saturday, Jan. 28 at Clune Arena beginning at 7 p.m.
