Air Force Unable To Stop San José State On Senior Day

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force men's basketball (14-17, 5-13 MW) fell 63-61 to San José State (19-12, 10-8) in Mountain West action Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Clune Arena. Senior Carter Murphy scored 17 points to lead the Falcons.

San José State overcame a 20-point deficit in the second half, out-scoring the Falcons 38-16 over the final 17 minutes of play. Guard Omari Moore scored 33 points to lead the Spartans and had a game-ending block to cap the game.

The Falcons led the entire game until a three by Tibet Gorener put SJSU ahead 57-56 with 4:12 to play.

Air Force went down four points with 23 seconds left before Camden Vander Zwaag hit a three with seven seconds left make it a one point game. Alvaro Cardenas made the back end of two free throw attempts to make it a two-point Spartan lead with five seconds left to play. On the final play of the game, Murphy had a drive to the basket as time expired, but his shot was blocked off the backboard by Moore to end the game.

Murphy was one-point shy of his career-high, going 7 of 12 from the field. Vander Zwaag and Jake Heidbreder added 13 points each and three assists each. Vander Zwaag was 3 for 3 from three-point range and also pulled down six rebounds.

Air Force's third senior, Nikc Jackson, scored four points on a pair of dunks, adding two rebounds.

Freshman Rytis Petraitis scored seven points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Petraitis set a Mountain West Freshman record in the game for the most free throws in conference play, with 104.

Air Force raced out to a 39-25 halftime lead, led by its rebounding shooting. The Falcons out-rebounded the Spartans 22-11 in the opening half, while shooting 52 percent from the field. The Falcons opened the game by leading 14-1 eight minutes into the game. Highlighting the start was a 9-0 run.

The Falcons struggled in the second half, making just three field goals over the final 13 minutes of play. Air Force shot 39 percent from the field for the game.

Prior to tipoff, Air Force honored its three seniors--Jackson, Murphy and Vander Zwaag.

Air Force returns to action Wednesday, March 8, in the opening round of the 2023 Mountain West Men's Basketball Championships at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev. The Falcons are the 10-seed and play seven-seed UNLV in the second game of the day, slated for a 1:30 pm PT tip.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.