Air Force Falcons Loses to Colorado State as Losing Streak Reaches 11 Games

The Air Force Falcons men’s basketball team was in their latest game for a half before the Colorado State Rams pulled away.
Jan 11, 2025; Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Air Force Falcons guard Ethan Taylor (5) controls the ball as San Jose State Spartans guard Will McClendon (1) guards in the second half at Clune Arena.
Jan 11, 2025; Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Air Force Falcons guard Ethan Taylor (5) controls the ball as San Jose State Spartans guard Will McClendon (1) guards in the second half at Clune Arena. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
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The Air Force Falcons men’s basketball team found itself in a tight affair with the Colorado State Rams after 20 minutes of their game on Tuesday in Fort Collins, Colo.

Well, 20 minutes later, the Rams outscored the Falcons by 20 points to take a 79-58 victory in Mountain West action.

Colorado State (14-7, 8-2, Mountain West) pulled away with a huge run at the end of the game. At one point down the stretch, the Rams posted a 17-3 run on the Falcons, which include making seven straight field goals. Meanwhile, Air Force missed 14 of 15 shots, including seven in a row, and didn’t have a field goal for the final five minutes.

That proved to be the difference in the game, one that was just one point at halftime.

Air Force (3-18, 0-10 Mountain West) has now lost 11 games and hasn’t won since it beat Stony Brook on Dec. 7. Tuesday’s game was the midway point of conference action.   

The Rams ended up shooting 52% for the game, and the Falcons (35%) just couldn’t keep up. CSU also did a great job handling the basketball, committing just five turnovers to Air Force’s 10. The Rams outrebounded the Falcons, 37-29, and outscored them in the paint, 38-14.

Ethan Taylor was the only Falcon in double figures with 22 points. He also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Entering the game, he ranked first in the Mountain West in terms of percentage of team's points at 24.1 percent.

He also started the 110th game of his career, third most in Air Force history.

Nique Clifford led the Rams with 22 points. He had a double-double with 11 rebounds, along with seven assists and two steals. Jalen Lake scored 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. He also had two steals. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson added 13 points. Kyan Evans had eight points and led the team with eight assists.  

Colorado State had a slim 38-37 lead at halftime. The Falcons started the game on a 5-0 run, which turned out to be their biggest lead of the first 20 minutes. Taylor had a huge first half, as he scored 15 points, including draining a trio of 3-pointers.

At one point, the Rams built a seven-point lead before surrendering most of it by the break. Lake’s 10 points paced CSU in the first 20 minutes.

The Falcons will continue their road trip on Saturday at San Jose State at 3 p.m. mountain. The game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.

The following week, Air Force is at home to face Nevada on Feb. 4 and New Mexico on Feb. 8.


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