Scott Earns 250th, As Air Force Tops San José State, 63-53

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Air Force men's basketball (10-8, 3-4 MW) toppled San José State (7-11, 0-6 MW), 63-53, in Mountain West action Tuesday night at Provident Credit Union Event Center. Several milestones were achieved by the Falcons, including head coach Joe Scott's 250th career win.

With win number 10, the Falcons doubled its win total from a season ago and notched its first conference road win since 2020. Scott picked up his 250th career win in his 18th season as a head coach.

As for the team, freshman Lucas Moerman blocked six shots to tie the school record for most blocked shots in a game. It is the fourth time a Falcon has blocked six shots in a game and the first since Taylor Broekhuis in 2012. Both Moerman and Broekhuis are Colorado Springs natives.

It was a balanced scoring effort from the Falcons, who had three players reach double-figures in scoring and six players score at least eight points. Senior guard AJ Walker led the way with 12 points, sophomore guard Joseph Octave scored 11 and junior guard Carter Murphy came off the bench to add 10 points.

Freshman guards Jake Heidbreder and Ethan Taylor added eight points each. Heidbreder also notched career-highs of eight rebounds and five assists.

Despite a slow start on offense, the Falcons took control of the game early, leading for most of the first half. The Falcon led by as many as seven in the first half, before getting to halftime holding a 33-28 lead.

After shooting just 35 percent in the first half, the Air Force offense stepped up by shooting 45 percent from the field and 58 percent from three in the second half. The Falcons led by as many as 11 points before San Jose State began to rally late.

The Spartans got to within three points with three minutes left to play. But clutch three's by Murphy and Walker put the Falcons up by several baskets. The Falcons were able to score the final six points of the game to pull away.

Air Force did a great job defending the three-point line, holding the top three-point shooting team in the MW to just three makes on 14 attempts (21.4 percent). Guard Omari Moore led the Spartans with 20 points.

Air Force returns to action Friday, Jan. 28, hosting Wyoming. Tip time is 4 pm MT and the game will be streamed online by the Mountain West Network courtesy of FalconVision.

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