Air Force Upended In Final Seconds At UNLV, 54-53

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Air Force men's basketball (14-16, 5-12 MW) fell 54-53 at UNLV (17-11, 6-10) in Mountain West action Friday night at Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV scored the go-ahead bucket on a putback by EJ Harkless with 1.8 seconds left in the game.

In a back-and-forth battle, Air Force held a three-point lead with 16 seconds left to play after freshman Rytis Petraitis knocked down a pair of three throws to put the Falcons ahead 53-50.

UNLV then got a bucket from Shane Nowell with eight seconds left to pull to within one. The Rebels then forced a turnover on the in-bounds pass. Harkless got to a missed Rebel shot at the rim and put it back in for the go-ahead score. After a timeout, the Falcons were unable to get a shot off in time as the clock expired on a tough last-second loss.

Harkless led UNLV with 23 points. He scored 21 of the Rebels' 29 points in the second half.

Sophomore Jake Heidbreder and Petraitis led the Falcons with 16 points. Heidbreder went 6 of 12 from the field, adding four three's. Petraitis notched his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior Carter Murphy added 13 points for his fifth straight game in double-figures. Murphy also had a career-high five steals. Sophomore forward Beau Becker added five points, nine rebounds and a career-high six assists.

Air Force led for much of the first half and went to halftime with a 26-25 lead. Despite shooting just 36 percent from the field, the Falcons took advantage of nine steals and 12 UNLV turnovers. Air Force scored 13 points off turnovers in the opening half.

For the game, the Falcons shot 39 percent. They stayed in the game by forcing 11 steals and 17 UNLV turnovers, which led to 19 points off turnovers, the most in a MW game this season.

Air Force returns to action in its regular-season finale Saturday, March 4, hosting San Jose State. Tip time is 2 pm MT and the game will be broadcast on Altitude and streamed on the Mountain West Network.

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