Late Rally Falls Short In 68-66 Setback To Fresno State

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force men's basketball (8-15, 1-10 MW) fell 68-66 to Fresno State (11-13, 4-7 MW) in Mountain West play Saturday afternoon at Clune Arena. Junior Jeffrey Mills led the Falcons with a career-high 20 points.

Air Force trailed by 11 with under eight minutes to play and set themselves up to either tie or take the lead at the end of the game. The Falcons got the game down to two points with 16 seconds to play and had two opportunities to overtake the Bulldogs.

Following missed free throws by Fresno State, the Falcons were unable to make two separate three-point attempts as the game ended.

Fresno State shot 57 percent from the field and 62 percent from three. Guard Xavier DuSell led the Bulldogs with 29 points. DuSell was red hot from three, making seven of eight attempts. Guards Jalen Weaver scored 16 and Isaiah Hill 14.

The Falcons had four in double-figures, led by Mills. Mills was 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-9 from three-point range. Beau Becker scored 17 points for Air Force, adding four rebound and two blocked shots.

Rytis Petraitis notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Petraitis also added five assists and five steals. Byron Brown also reached double-figures with 10 points. Brown hit a pair of three's and also had two blocked shots.

The two teams played to a 28-28 tie at the half. Fresno State took control of the game early in the second-half, building to the 11 point lead with 7:58 to play. The Falcons chipped away at the lead, but could not overcome the deficit.

For the game, Air Force shot 44 percent from the field and 28 percent from three. The Falcons had 11 steals in the game and forced Fresno State to commit 19 turnovers.

Air Force returns to action Saturday, Feb. 13, at San Jose State. The game tips at 7:30 pm PT.

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