Air Force men’s basketball was defeated by UNLV, 91-66, in a Mountain West Conference game at Clune Arena on Saturday. The Falcons dropped to 3-23 overall and 0-15 in conference play, while the Rebels improved to 13-13 and 8-7 in the MW standings.
Lucas Hobin led Air Force with 19 points. Kam Sanders nearly achieved a triple-double, finishing with 16 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. “Hobin knocked down four three’s on the day, giving him 63 on the season. He became the first Falcon freshmen to surpass the 60 three’s mark.” Additionally, “Sanders tied a career-high for points and set a new career-high for rebounds. He now has 102 assists on the season, becoming just the second freshman in program history to reach the 100 career assists mark.”
The game remained close through halftime with Air Force trailing by only three points at intermission. The Falcons limited UNLV to shooting percentages of 42 percent from the field and just 20 percent from beyond the arc during that span. They also held a rebounding advantage of 24-18 in the first half after having managed only 23 total rebounds in their previous outing against New Mexico.
However, UNLV took control in the second half by scoring 57 points and shooting an efficient percentage—79 percent from the field and converting seven out of eight attempts from three-point range (88 percent). Kimani Hamilton led all scorers with 27 points for UNLV; Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn contributed another 21 points; Howie Fleming Jr. recorded a triple-double with ten points, ten rebounds, and ten assists.
Air Force finished ahead on total rebounds for the game (35-29) but could not keep pace offensively as UNLV scored heavily inside—28 second-half paint points—and pulled away late.
Other notable performances included center Wesley Celichowski scoring eight points on four made shots and forward Kolby Gilles leading bench players with seven points.
Compared to their previous meeting against UNLV when they scored just 39 points, Air Force put up more offense this time around by tallying an additional 27 points. The team shot forty percent overall from the field and made eight three-pointers while hitting eighty percent of its free throws.
Air Force will next face San Jose State at home on Tuesday, February 24th at Clune Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT; coverage will be provided by Altitude television and streamed via MW Network.
