Falcons Fly Past Pokes

Behind 24 points from Michael Lyons and a strong second half, the Air Force Falcons knocked off the Wyoming Cowboys 58-53 Wednesday night at the Arena-Auditorium. Lyons hit six 3's, the Falcons shot 50 percent in the second half and held the Cowboys to 26 percent shooting.

Air Force snapped a seven-game losing streak and gave Interim Head Coach Dave Pilipovich his first win. It was also the Falcons' first win in Laramie since 2008 and the first time Wyoming has lost back-to-back games this season.

Air Force began the second half on a 10-2 run and tied the game at 38. Wyoming pushed back out by five, at 45-40, but the Falcons continued their strong second half. A 12-0 spurt by Air Force produced their first lead of the game and put them ahead 52-45. It included two big 3's from deep by Lyons.

The Cowboys jumped to an early 12-2 lead, as all five starters scored. They pushed the advantage to 24-10 on Washington's lay-up off a feed from Derrious Gilmore with 9:10 to play. The Falcons answered with a 10-0 run keyed by back-to-back 3's from Lyons. UW went just over four minutes without a point. Waddell responded with five quick points to push the lead back to 29-20, and the Pokes eventually held a 36-28 edge at halftime.

Wyoming (18-7, 4-5) was led by Waddell with 15 points and JayDee Luster with 11 points and 4 assists. The Cowboys shot 39.2 percent (20-51) from the field, 19.0 percent (4-21) from 3-point range and 90.0 percent (9-10) from the free throw line. UW committed 13 turnovers while forcing 12 from Air Force and out-rebounded the Falcons 31-23.

The Falcons (12-11, 2-7) shot 48.9 percent (22-45) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-19) from beyond the arc and 100 percent (6-6) from the foul line. Taylor Broekhuis was the only other Air Force player beside Lyons to score in double-figures with 12 points.

UW will soldier on in Mountain West play on Saturday against Colorado State in Ft. Collins. Tip is set for 7 p.m., coverage will begin on KCGY-FM (95.1) at 6:30 p.m.