Air Force Drops 78-69 Contest At Cal

BERKELEY, Calif. - Air Force men's basketball dropped a 78-69 contest at California (4-1) Thursday night at Haas Pavilion. Senior guard Ethan Taylor led Air Force with 23 points.

Air Force saw itself get down by as many as 15 points in the first half, before mounting a big rally in the second half.

The game started as a back-and-forth affair, with the Falcons trailing by just one at 16-15. Cal then proceeded to go on a 14-0 run to go up 30-15 with 5:24 to go in the first half. Air Force closed with a 12-5 run over the remainder of the half to trail 35-27 at the break.

Midway through the second half, a 7-0 run had the Falcons close the game to two points at 49-47 with 11:47 to play. Back-to-back three's from Taylor led the run.

Unfortunately, Cal responded with an 8-0 run to retake control of the game and go up 10. The Falcons were unable to get any closer than within seven the rest of the way out.

Air Force shot a season-best 51 percent from the field and 45 percent from three. Cal did most of its damage inside, getting 13 offensive rebounds for 48 points in the paint. The Falcons also committed 16 turnovers, which led to 23 Cal points off turnovers.

Taylor was 9 of 13 from the field and 5 of 8 from three to lead the Falcons. The senior scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, adding three assists.

Two sophomore Falcons joined Taylor in double figures. Forward Luke Kearney scored 14 points off the bench, going 5 of 9 from the field and 2 of 6 from three. Center Wesley Celichowski provided offense from the post, scoring 12 points, which included a pair of three's as well.

On the defensive end, senior Byron Brown had a career-high three blocked shots and freshman Kyle Marshall added five rebounds, three steals and three assists. As a team, the Falcons had a season-high eight steals.

Cal shot 54 percent from the field with Jeremiah Wilkinson scoring 23 points and Andrej Stojakovic adding 21.

Air Force returns to action Sunday, Nov. 24, hosting Mercyhurst. The game is slated for a 2 pm MT tip at Clune Arena.

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Team Stats

Ethan Taylor

Luke Kearney

Wesley Celichowski

Jeffrey Mills

Players Mentioned

Byron Brown

Wesley Celichowski

Luke Kearney

Kyle Marshall

Ethan Taylor

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