Air Force Falls At Portland State, 68-64

PORTLAND, Ore. – Air Force men's basketball (5-4) was unable to hold off Portland State (5-4), falling 68-64 Saturday afternoon at Viking Pavilion. The loss snapped a four game win streak for the Falcons, who were led by freshman Rytis Petraitis, who scored 22 points.

Portland State erased a 12-point Air Force lead by out-scoring Air Force 29-13 over the final 9:27 of play. The Falcons led 51-39 with 9:27 to play. Portland State tied it up with a 14-2 run. The teams battled back and forth before the Vikings went ahead for good on a three by Jorell Saterfield with 1:33 to play.

Early in the second half, the Falcons jumped ahead to the big lead on a 14-0 run. Petraitis keyed the run with the first seven points in the run and nine total during. For the game, the freshman went 6 of 8 from the field and 8 of 13 from the free throw line. Petraitis also had a team-high eight rebounds and four steals in 23 minutes off the bench.

Joining Petraitis in double figures was sophomore guard Jake Heidbreder with 16 points. Heidbreder hit a pair of three's and was 4 of 4 from the free throw line. Camden Vander Zwaag added eight points and Jeffrey Mills and Carter Murphy scored six each. Mills and Ethan Taylor had four assists each.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle where the Falcons scraped and clawed their way back from an early nine point deficit. Portland State led 11-2 early on as the Falcons missed their first five shots to start the game.

With clutch play off the bench by Petraitis, the Falcons rallied back to make it a one point game at the half. Petraitis scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds as the Falcons went up by a point twice before settling to a 30-29 Portland State lead at the half.

The very physical game featured 61 free throws attempted thanks to 52 fouls called. Air Force went 23 for 34 from the line, with both being season-high's for makes and attempts.

Portland State was led by the duo of Saterfield and guard Cameron Parker. Both scored 24 points each. Parker did his damage at the free throw line, going 14 of 16 from the free throw line.

Air Force returns to action Tuesday, Dec. 6, hosting South Dakota. The game tips early at 3 pm MT and will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.

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Team Stats

Rytis Petraitis

Jake Heidbreder

Camden Vander Zwaag

Carter Murphy

Players Mentioned

Jake Heidbreder

Jeffrey Mills

Carter Murphy

Rytis Petraitis

Ethan Taylor

Camden Vander Zwaag

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