Air Force Runs Past Portland, 80-58, To Extend Win Streak To Six

PORTLAND, Ore. - Air Force men's basketball rolled to a dominant 80-58 win at Portland (5-4) Sunday afternoon at The Chiles Center. The win lifted Air Force to its sixth consecutive win, improving the team to 7-2 on the season.

It was Air Force's third true-non-conference road win of the season, tying a program record and the most since 2006.

With the score knotted at 42-42 at the 16:18 mark in the second half, the Falcons went on to out-score the Pilots 38-16 the rest of the way out.

Five Falcons reached double-figures in scoring, led by 20 points off the bench by sophomore Rytis Petraitis. Junior Ethan Taylor scored 16 points and sophomore Kellan Boylan had a career-high 15 points. Juniors Beau Becker added 11 and Jeffrey Mills chipped-in with 10.

Air Force held Portland below 60 points for its fourth-consecutive game holding an opponent below 60 points.

The Falcons led by as many as nine in the first half, before the Pilots came back and cut the game to four points at the half, with the Falcons leading 37-33.

The Pilots scored the first five points of the second half to take a brief lead. With the game tied at 42-42, a pair of missed free throws by Portland helped ignite the Air Force run.

The Falcons took the lead on a free throw by Petraitis and never relinquished the lead from there on out. Up eight, Air Force went on to hit three consecutive three's in a one-minute span to go up 17 at 67-50 with five minutes to play. Byron Brown, Becker and Taylor hit the consecutive threes.

Petraitis was 8 of 12 from the field, adding five rebounds and three steals. Boylan added six rebounds and a career-high five steals. Taylor connected on four three's and scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half.

Air Force out-rebounded Portland 34-27 and forced 12 steals. The Falcons held a 24-14 advantage in points off turnovers and out-scored the Pilots 44-24 in the paint. Guard Chris Austin led Portland with 15 points.

The Falcons return to action Saturday, Dec. 9 hosting Eastern Washington. The game tips at 4 pm MT.

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