Air Force Falcons Lose to Northern Colorado in Final Mountain West Tune-Up

The Air Force Falcons men’s basketball team heads into Mountain West Conference action having lost four of their last five games.

Feb 27, 2024; Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Boise State Broncos forward Tyson Degenhart (2) battles for a loose ball with Air Force Falcons guard Kellan Boylan (23) and forward Rytis Petraitis (31) and center Wesley Celichowski (51) in the second half at Clune Arena. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Air Force Falcons men's basketball team has only a few days to prepare for its first Mountain West Conference showdown after falling, 81-76, to Northern Colorado on Monday night.

The game with the Bears was the Falcons’ final tune-up before league action, which tips off on Saturday afternoon against Boise State. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. mountain and the game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.

The Falcons (3-8) have lost four of their last five games, with their only victory coming against Stony Brook in the Legends Showcase in Frisco, Texas, on Dec. 7. Air Force had 10 days off before facing Northern Colorado.

The contest continued a troubling trend for the Falcons, as they have failed to win a road game in any of their four attempts this season.

Air Force was down as many as 17 points before it scored 50 points in the second half to nearly erase the lead the Bears built in the first 20 minutes.

Both teams shot well for the game, as Air Force shot 51% and Northern Colorado shot nearly 53%. But it was at the 3-point line where the Bears overwhelmed the Falcons, as UNC shot 38.5% in the Air Force shot just 5.6% (1-for-18).

The Falcons started the second half on a 7-0 run while their defense forced nine second-half turnovers, part of 13 the Bears committed for the contest.

Air Force made it a three-point game at three different times down the stretch, and better shooting from the arc would have come in hand. The last chance for the Falcons came with 41 seconds left as a dunk by Kyle Marshall cut the lead to 79-76.

Marshall led the Falcons with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

But Northern Colorado — which outrebounded Air Force, 39-23 — put the game away with a jumper from Quinn Denker with 12 seconds left. It was Denker’s only field goal.

Wesley Celichowski scored 12 points for Air Force while Caleb Walker added 10 points. Walker (15-of-18) has shot well in the last three games while Celichowski went 6-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Falcons freshmen Will Cooper and Sam Springer contributed eight points and seven points, respectively.

Langston Reynolds led Northern Colorado with 23 points.  Zach Block added 15 points, including three big 3-pointers for the Bears late in the game.