Air Force Rallies To 62-55 Win Over Toronto Metro Tuesday In Canada
7/30/2024 7:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
TORONTO, Canada - Air Force men's basketball rallied back from a 17-point deficit to defeat Toronto Metro 62-55 Tuesday night at The Mattamy Athletic Centre on the Toronto Metropolitan University campus. Senior guard Ethan Taylor and sophomore forward Luke Kearney both scored 14 points each to lead the Falcons to a 2-0 run in Toronto as part of its five-game Canada tour.
The Falcons were ice-cold to start the game, falling behind 12-4 after the field quarter of play. Toronto Metro out-scored the Falcons 18-13 in the second quarter to take a 30-17 halftime lead.
Air Force began to figure out TMU's pressure defense in the third quarter, erupting for 21 points to cut the lead to four at 42-38 after three. The Bold scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to go up nine at 47-38 with nine minutes to play. Air Force went on to out-score TMU 24-8 the rest of the way to pull out the win.
Air Force took its first lead of the game at the 5:33 mark, when Ethan Taylor slammed home a dunk to put the Falcons ahead 49-48. After TMU tied it up with a free throw, Beau Becker drilled a three to put the Falcons ahead for good at 54-51 with two minutes left. After the Bold pulled to within two, Taylor iced the game with a dagger three with 40 seconds left to the Falcons up five at 60-55.
The Falcons overcame 22 turnovers in the game, with 17 coming in the first half. Air Force was also held to just five three's in the game on 21 percent shooting from long range.
Air Force played well defensively, holding TMU to 29 percent shooting. The Falcons out-rebounded the Bold 50-31. Kearney notched a double-double with 10 rebounds and Byron Brown added 10 boards.
Joe Scott recapping the TMU game:
"Our guys came out in the second-half and only had five turnovers and gave up only three offensive rebounds. We took care of the ball on both ends of. court and we won in the second-half 45-25. Rebounding and taking care of the ball is a formula that somehow these guys have to embrace. That's why this game was another a good experience for us. Luke Kearney was terrific tonight. He was all over the place, playing with a lot of energy. Wesley Celichowski played well again. We put Beau Becker back in there in the second-half when Wes was getting a lot of minutes and he played really good down the stretch for us. I told the guys at halftime you gotta get to the point where you know what to do when you're not playing well. What we need to do to get out of adversity. We have to develop that mind-set that no matter what happens, I'm going to be that kind of person to fight through adversity. So hopefully we can learn from this game.
Air Force is off from competition tomorrow. The Falcons return to action Thursday, Aug. 1, against Concordia University. The game will be played at Champlain Gym on the campus of Champlain College in Saint-Lambert, Quebec.
The Falcons were ice-cold to start the game, falling behind 12-4 after the field quarter of play. Toronto Metro out-scored the Falcons 18-13 in the second quarter to take a 30-17 halftime lead.
Air Force began to figure out TMU's pressure defense in the third quarter, erupting for 21 points to cut the lead to four at 42-38 after three. The Bold scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to go up nine at 47-38 with nine minutes to play. Air Force went on to out-score TMU 24-8 the rest of the way to pull out the win.
Air Force took its first lead of the game at the 5:33 mark, when Ethan Taylor slammed home a dunk to put the Falcons ahead 49-48. After TMU tied it up with a free throw, Beau Becker drilled a three to put the Falcons ahead for good at 54-51 with two minutes left. After the Bold pulled to within two, Taylor iced the game with a dagger three with 40 seconds left to the Falcons up five at 60-55.
The Falcons overcame 22 turnovers in the game, with 17 coming in the first half. Air Force was also held to just five three's in the game on 21 percent shooting from long range.
Air Force played well defensively, holding TMU to 29 percent shooting. The Falcons out-rebounded the Bold 50-31. Kearney notched a double-double with 10 rebounds and Byron Brown added 10 boards.
Joe Scott recapping the TMU game:
"Our guys came out in the second-half and only had five turnovers and gave up only three offensive rebounds. We took care of the ball on both ends of. court and we won in the second-half 45-25. Rebounding and taking care of the ball is a formula that somehow these guys have to embrace. That's why this game was another a good experience for us. Luke Kearney was terrific tonight. He was all over the place, playing with a lot of energy. Wesley Celichowski played well again. We put Beau Becker back in there in the second-half when Wes was getting a lot of minutes and he played really good down the stretch for us. I told the guys at halftime you gotta get to the point where you know what to do when you're not playing well. What we need to do to get out of adversity. We have to develop that mind-set that no matter what happens, I'm going to be that kind of person to fight through adversity. So hopefully we can learn from this game.
Air Force is off from competition tomorrow. The Falcons return to action Thursday, Aug. 1, against Concordia University. The game will be played at Champlain Gym on the campus of Champlain College in Saint-Lambert, Quebec.
Players Mentioned
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