Air Force Earns Hard-Fought Road Win At Northern Colorado, 67-65

GREELEY, Colo. – Air Force men's basketball (9-4) clawed its way to a gritty 67-65 win over Northern Colorado (5-7) team Tuesday night at Bank of Colorado Arena.

The Falcons came back from a three point deficit with 2:15 to play. Northern Colorado seemed to take control of the game when Riley Abercrombie hit a three to put the Bears ahead 63-60 at the 2:15 mark.

But the Falcons began to rally, first with Corbin Green drawing a foul at the 1:25 mark and calmly sinking both free throws to pull the Falcons to within one at 63-62.

On the ensuing possession, Northern Colorado was able to get the rebound off a missed three attempt by Abercrombie. Then freshman Rytis Petraitis stole the ball from Dalton Knecht and drove across court and made the bucket while drawing a foul to put the Falcons ahead 64-63 with 47 seconds to play.

On the ensuing possession, it was Petraitis who came up with the rebound on a missed UNC shot. Jake Heidbreder than made one of two free throws with six seconds left to put the Falcons up two. Corbin Green then closed out the game with a blocked shot on UNC's final shot attempt to help lift the Falcons to its first road win of the season.

Air Force has now won four in a row and eight of its last nine.

Heidbreder led four Falcons in double-figures with 17 points. He went 5 of 8 from the line, with his first miss snapping a streak of 32 consecutive free throws made.

Green scored 13 points to go with six rebounds and three blocked shots. Petraitis scored 12 points, while grabbing seven rebounds. Guard Ethan Taylor added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Guard Daylen Kountz scored 22 points to lead Northern Colorado. Knecht scored 17 points before fouling out.

The opening half was back and forth with the teams playing to a 31-31 tie at the half. Air Force played solid defense, holding the Bears to 38 percent shooting and 23 percent from three in the opening half. The Falcons shot 41 percent from the field and were held to 14 percent shooting from three in the opening half. The Falcons went ahead by as many as eighth in the opening half, but UNC came back and eventually evened the game.

For the game, Air Force shot 44 percent from the field and 23 percent from three point range. The Falcons held the Bears to 39.7 percent shooting from the field and 21.7 percent from three.

Air Force returns to action Wednesday, Dec. 28 at opening Mountain West play at San Diego State. Tip time is 8 pm PT and the game will be televised by FS1.

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