Air Force Falcons vs Utah Utes Basketball Recap

Air Force 77, Utah 69

The United States Air Force Academy is, first and foremost, a place of service. On the playing fields, however, the Air Force is regarded as a football school beyond anything else.

Wednesday night in the heart of Rocky Mountain Country, a bold attempt at a basketball resurgence was levied by a program that, just a few short years ago, found itself in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll see if one very encouraging performance at the start of the Mountain West Conference basketball season can springboard into still more surprises over the coming weeks.

Air Force used a career-high performance from Michael Lyons to surprise the Utah Utes in the first Mountain West Conference contest of the year for both squads. Klune Arena in Colorado Springs was rocking and rolling as the Falcons continued their strong play in recent weeks. For the first 37 minutes of play, it looked as though the visitors from Salt Lake City were going to carry the fight right down to the wire, but down the stretch, an abrupt about-face put the high-flyers from the Academy in control of the proceedings. Who knows just how much impact a strong finishing kick might have over the rest of the Mountain West season?

With the Falcons and Utes tangled in a 66-65 barnburner with 2:42 remaining, everyone in Air Force’s small but intimate barn was revving up for a photo finish, but just as suddenly as this game seemed unlikely to be busted open by a big run, the athletes from the Air Force did exactly that. A Lyons dunk and foul, combined with a Derek Brooks three-pointer, spurred an 7-0 run that put the home team in front by eight points, 73-65, with just 39 seconds left. Utah had no answer, and the same Air Force program that made multiple NCAA appearances in the middle of the past decade under former coaches Jeff Bzdelik and Joe Scott just picked up one of its bigger wins since those halcyon days.

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Junior College transfer Will Clyburn, the league's second-leading scorer had 16 points for the Utes.  Chris Kupets, led Utah with 25 points, after coming off the bench.  The Utes were without head coach Jim Boylen who did not travel with the team. 

After shocking losses to Colorado College and Wright State earlier in the season, the Jeff Reynolds-led Falcons have showed marked improvement over the past month and a half.  While competing for hardware in the top-heavy Mountain West Conference might be too much for Air Force to dream of this season, the energy displayed on Wednesday Night will serve the Falcons quite well for the rest of the year.

Lyons finished with 26 and Tom Fow had 17 points and 4 rebounds for the Academy. 

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer