Cougars Unable to Get on Track against Falcons, Suffer 60-55 Loss

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY -- In its most disappointing loss of the season, BYU suffered a defeat at Air Force Thursday, 60-55, falling to 14-4 overall and 3-2 in the Mountain West Conference.

Entering the game in a second-place MWC tie and a 1-0 conference road record, BYU could never get on track against the Falcons. After shooting 50 percent and trailing by one point, 28-27, at intermission, BYU lost its shooting touch in the final 20 minutes, making only 29 percent of its attempts. BYU shot 39.6 percent for the game while the Falcons also shot poorly at 39.2 percent.

The Cougars took the lead momentarily in the second half at 41-40 after a Mekeli Wesley three-point play, but the Cougars could not deliver when needed down the stretch while Air Force's Jarvis Croff hit two late jumpers on his way to a game-high 16 points. Tom Bellairs and Tyron Wright each contributed 13 points for the Falcons.

Wesley led BYU with 12 points while Lyday added 11 and Eric Nielsen 10. Lyday, who was playing on a sprained ankle and had not practiced leading up to the game, and fellow starter on the wing, Michael Vranes, who was fighting the flu, were continually short of the mark. Lyday was 4-11 and Vranes 0-3 from the floor. Vranes did not score for the first time in his career. Eric Nielsen, who scored in double figures for the second straight game, had a team-high nine rebounds while Matt Montague had a season-high nine points and dished out a game-best six assists.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young vs Air Force
1/27/00 7:05 p.m. at Clune Arena -- USAFA, CO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Brigham Young 14-4, 3-2 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... f  4-10   0-0    4-5    1  2  3   5  12  1  3  1  1  25
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... g  2-6    2-5    0-0    1  1  2   3   6  0  0  0  0  21
13 VRANES, Michael..... g  0-3    0-3    0-0    0  4  4   2   0  1  2  0  1  28
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g  4-11   1-6    2-3    0  3  3   3  11  0  3  1  1  25
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... *  4-5    0-0    2-2    3  6  9   1  10  1  2  1  2  32
02 RIVERS, Silester....    2-4    0-0    3-4    1  1  2   3   7  2  1  0  0   8
05 ROBERTS, Marc.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
31 MONTAGUE, Matt......    3-7    0-1    3-4    1  1  2   1   9  6  3  0  1  33
42 COOPER, Nathan......    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   4   0  0  2  0  0  19
50 NIELSEN, David......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   7
   TEAM................                            3  3
   Totals..............   19-48   3-17  14-18   7 22 29  22  55 11 16  3  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-24  .500   2nd Half:  7-24  .292   Game:  .396  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-5   .000   2nd Half:  3-12  .250   Game:  .176  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4   .750   2nd Half: 11-14  .786   Game:  .778     3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Air Force 6-10, 2-2 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
04 GARCIA, Miguel...... f  4-9    1-3    0-1    2  4  6   3   9  2  0  0  2  33
32 BELLAIRS, Tom....... f  5-7    0-0    3-6    4  8 12   4  13  2  1  0  1  36
33 WRIGHT, Tyron....... f  3-12   0-3    7-9    5  5 10   1  13  1  6  0  3  38
22 JENKINS, Vernard.... g  2-4    1-2    1-2    0  0  0   2   6  1  4  0  2  31
24 CROFF, Jarvis....... g  6-13   0-6    4-5    2  4  6   0  16  0  1  0  2  37
02 MANSELL, Selwyn.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  1  0  0   5
13 ROUX, Jaron.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   1   0  0  2  0  0   4
21 YAZZIE, Lawrence....    0-3    0-3    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  1   5
30 NICHOLSON, Byron....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  0  0  0   4
35 CHRISTENSEN, Shawn..    0-1    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   2   2  0  0  0  0   2
44 HUMPHREY, Billy.....    0-2    0-0    1-2    0  1  1   3   1  0  0  0  0   5
   TEAM................                         1     1
   Totals..............   20-51   2-17  18-27  15 23 38  18  60  7 16  0 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-23  .348   2nd Half: 12-28  .429   Game:  .392  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-8   .125   2nd Half:  1-9   .111   Game:  .118  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-14  .786   2nd Half:  7-13  .538   Game:  .667     3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Steve Welmer, Bill Kennedy, Dan Christman
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Air Force-None.
Attendance: 1115
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   27   28  -   55
Air Force.....................   28   32  -   60