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Falcons Fly Past Mountaineers
McGraw tallies a game-high 19 points in 66-44 win over Western State.
Nov. 23, 2005
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - Matt McGraw and Dan Nwaelele led Air Force's onslaught of 3-pointers that helped the Falcons rout Western (Colo.) State 66-44 Wednesday night. McGraw scored 19 points and sank three from beyond he arc and Nwaelele added 14 points, 12 of them from long range as the Falcons improved to 4-1 under first-year coach Jeff Bzdelik. Jacob Burtschi also had 14 points and a 3-pointer for the Falcons, who were 9-for-19 from three-point range. Lorens Knudsen's 13 points led the Mountaineers (0-1), who were competitive for a half before Air Force's perimeter shooters turned the game into a mismatch that the fans had expected all along. The Falcons have won 13 of 14 games against the Mountaineers, but the schools hadn't met since Feb. 23, 1976, in Gunnison, Colo. The Falcons had started the Bzdelik era in fine fashion, posting the school's first win ever over an Atlantic Coast Conference team by beating the University of Miami in the BCA Classic, where Air Force also gave the host Washington Huskies all they could handle before falling in the championship. Playing in their season opener, the Mountaineers, an NCAA Division II member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, however, gave the Falcons all they could handle for one half, trailing just 33-28 at the break following Zach Smith's dunk at the buzzer after he stole the ball from Nwaelele at midcourt. The Falcons came out of the locker room intent on ending any thoughts of an upset, however, and McGraw followed Nwaelele's consecutive 3-pointers with one of his own for a 42-30 lead. The Falcons started using tenacious defense to create fastbreak opportunities that wore down the Mountaineers. After Clem Benton's basket made it 44-32, Air Force scored 16 straight points, including another 3 by Nwaelele and one by reserve Keith Maren, to go ahead 60-34.
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