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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The Air Force Academy won four of 31 games entering its Mountain West Conference tournament game against UNLV Wednesday.
The Falcons, based just north of Colorado Springs in the Rockies foothills, gave UNLV quite a scare Wednesday but the Runnin’ Rebels caught fire midway through the second half to advance to play Utah State Thursday at 8:30PM at Thomas & Mack Center.
It was a lifeless first half as UNLV scored only 21 points in the 20 minutes and trailed, 25-21, at the break.
But UNLV flipped the game in the second half.
UNLV ripped off 19 straight points as Air Force went ice cold and UNLV led by 13 points with about 3:30 left in the game. The Rebs were down, 47-41, and when the 19-0 run was over they led, 60-47.
While Air Force has struggled through a losing season, the Runnin’ Rebels were down to only six players with top player Dedan Thomas Jr. and three-point specialist Julian Rishwain out with injuries.
So Jalen Hill played the entire game contributing season highs of 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Jailen Bedford took a shot above the eye in the first half and returned bandaged up in the second half to finish with 13 points and nine rebounds. Bear Cherry also scored 13, with Jaden Henley contributing 12.
Overall, a gutsy performance by UNLV.
UNLV lives to play another game. Coach Kevin Kruger said his squad needed to play more assertively and aggressively in the second half.
Final: Runnin’ Rebels 68 Air Force 59.
The Mountain West is scheduled to play its basketball tournament at Thomas & Mack Center through 2032. After having six conference teams make it to the Big Dance in 2024, the Mountain West is expected to have three schools in the national tournament, maybe four.
The MWC tournament is important revenue for Thomas & Mack Center, which also hosts the NBA Summer League in July and the National Finals Rodeo in December.
The MWC tournament has local hotel sponsors Circa, Resorts World and Westgate and has Credit Union 1 as its title sponsor.