Late Rally Not Enough In Setback At Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Air Force men's basketball (9-20, 2-15 MW) fell 74-63 at Wyoming (14-16, 7-10 MW) in Mountain West play Tuesday night at the Arena Auditorium. Junior guard Jeffrey Mills returned from injury to lead the Falcons with 17 points off the bench.

The Falcons found themselves down 19 early in the second half, before mounting a furious late-game rally that saw them pull to within four points late.

An ice cold start to the second half had the Falcons facing a major uphill battle. Trailing 27-22 at the half, the Falcons were held scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half, while Wyoming started on a 14-0 run to jump ahead 41-22.

Despite trailing by 19, Air Force came scratching and clawing its way back into the game with the three ball. Air Force got the game down to four points at 60-56 with 4:12 to play on a three by Mills. The Falcons out-scored the Cowboys 34-15 during a 10 minute span. The Falcons connected on eight three's during the run.

The deficit was ultimately too big to overcome, as Wyoming was able match scores with the Falcons to close the game out.

Air Force had 30 points from its reserves as freshman Luke Kearney joined Mills in double-figures with 13 points. Mills was 5 of 7 from three and Kearney made 3-of-9. Mills gave the Falcons a big boost, returning to game action after missing three of the last four games due to injury.

Joining in double-figures was junior Byron Brown, who scored a career-high 16 points. Sophomore Rytis Petraitis scored six points, all from the free throw line, adding team-high's of nine rebounds and five assists.

Air Force made 14 three's on the night, which tied for the most in a conference game this season. The 14 three's gave the Falcons 154 three's made in MW play, setting a new program record for most three's in a season in conference play.

Wyoming seniors Brendan Wenzel, Sam Griffin and Akuel Kot combined for 58 points. Wenzel scored a game-high 20, which Griffin and Kot scoring 19 each.

Air Force returns to action Saturday, March 9 hosting Colorado State in both teams' regular-season finale.

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Team Stats

Jeffrey Mills

Byron Brown

Luke Kearney

Beau Becker

Players Mentioned

Byron Brown

Luke Kearney

Jeffrey Mills

Rytis Petraitis

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