Air Force men’s basketball lost to Nevada 74-59 on Saturday night at Lawlor Events Center in Mountain West play. The Falcons now have a record of 3-28 overall and 0-20 in the conference, while Nevada improved to 20-11 overall and 12-8 in the Mountain West.
Freshman Kam Sanders led Air Force with 14 points, also contributing three assists and three steals. Three other Falcons reached double figures: junior forward Kolby Gilles scored a career-high 12 points on perfect shooting from both the field (5-for-5) and free throw line (2-for-2), sophomore forward Eli Robinson added 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, and junior forward Caleb Walker had 10 points along with a team-high six rebounds.
Nevada was led by Corey Camper Jr., who scored 18 points. The Wolf Pack had four players score in double digits, shot 48 percent from the field, and out-rebounded Air Force by a margin of 41 to 22.
Nevada started strong, scoring the first twelve points of the game. Air Force responded by outscoring Nevada for the remainder of the first half but still trailed at halftime, down seven at 32-25. The Falcons forced five steals and committed only two turnovers before halftime.
In the second half, after an opening point from Air Force, Nevada went on a nine-point run that put them back up by double digits. Air Force was unable to close the gap below fourteen for the rest of the game.
Air Force managed just two three-pointers during this matchup—both made by freshman Ethan Greenberg—after hitting fourteen threes in their previous meeting with Nevada. However, they scored forty-six points in the paint, their highest total in a Mountain West game this season and most since playing IU Indy.
The Falcons will next compete as the twelfth seed at the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament held March 11–14 in Las Vegas. They are scheduled to face off against an opponent yet to be determined—the fifth seed—on Wednesday, March 11 at Thomas & Mack Center at 2:30 pm PT.
