Air Force Strikes Down Cougars

PROVO -- Marriott Center magic is slowly disappearing for the Cougars as BYU fell to the Air Force Falcons, 52-49 Saturday afternoon. Keena Young played big for the Cougars, posting his first double-double of the season, tying his career-high with 14 points and grabbing a new career-high 11 rebounds.

"I couldn't be prouder of our effort," BYU head coach Steve Cleveland said. "But I'm disappointed that we lost."

The Falcons jumped on the Cougars early in the first half, scoring the first 10 points of the game. Slowly the Cougars crawled their way back into the game, connecting on an 11-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the half 21-20. During that time, BYU held the Falcons scoreless for eight and half minutes. In the last few minutes of the half, late turnovers by BYU allowed the Falcons to regain a quick lead until Young, who led the Cougars in scoring at the half, scored on a tip-in with one second remaining to tie the game 29-29 at halftime.

In the second half, both teams battled back and forth as neither team could pull away with a comfortable lead. The Cougars' largest lead of the half came at the 10 minute mark, with BYU on top by four, 43-39. Late in the second half, Jimmy Balderson delivered a two-point basket to bring the Cougars within one, 49-50. The next play down the floor, the Falcons missed a shot within the key and BYU's Young grabbed the rebound but the ball was stripped, leading to a Cougar foul. With 11 seconds left in the game, Air Force's Matt McCraw hit two clutch free throws to take a three point advantage. A desperation 3-pointer by Austin Ainge was not enough to secure the win.

The Cougars' second-leading scorer was senior Mike Hall, who finished the game with 13 points. Sophomore Ainge contributed an overall effort with five points, six assists and six rebounds. BYU finished the game shooting 47.6 percent from the field, 40 percent from the arc and an uncharacteristic 37.5 percent shooting from the charity stripe.

"There's no time to feel sorry for ourselves," Cleveland said. "And there's no time to get distracted. We have to come back and find a way to beat New Mexico."

With an 0-4 league record, the Cougars continue a three-game homestead by hosting New Mexico Monday night at 8 p.m. (SportsWest, UPN-Z24 in Utah). BYU will then face in-state rival Utah on Jan. 31 in a 10 p.m. ESPN tilt.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Air Force vs Brigham Young
01/22/05 11:01 at Marriot Center, Provo, UT
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VISITORS: Air Force 12-6, 3-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 BURTSCHI, Jacob..... f  2-5    1-3    0-0    0  6  6   2   5  2  2  0  1  30
45 WELCH, Nick......... c  6-12   4-5    0-0    0  4  4   2  16  1  1  0  2  38
05 McCRAW, Matt........ g  5-7    2-3    2-2    0  2  2   0  14  3  0  0  5  37
11 KELLER, Tim......... g  2-4    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   1   4  6  0  0  1  38
15 HOOD, Antoine....... g  5-10   0-1    0-0    0  2  2   4  10  1  3  0  3  31
12 ANDERSON, Tim.......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  1  0   3
34 NWAELELE, Dan.......    1-4    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   2   2  0  1  0  0  11
35 HOLUM, Marc.........    0-0    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   2   1  0  0  0  0   6
42 BUCHANAN, Caleb.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   6
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   21-43   7-16   3-4    2 19 21  13  52 13  8  1 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-24 50.0%   2nd Half:  9-19 47.4%   Game: 48.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-10 40.0%   2nd Half:  3-6  50.0%   Game: 43.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-2  50.0%   2nd Half:  2-2  100 %   Game: 75.0%    0
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 6-13, 0-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 HALL, Mike.......... f  5-10   3-6    0-0    0  3  3   4  13  2  3  3  1  38
41 MEADS, Garner....... f  3-6    0-0    0-2    0  1  1   1   6  0  1  0  0  27
52 JENSEN, Jared....... c  1-2    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   0   2  0  0  0  0  11
13 AINGE, Austin....... g  1-5    1-4    2-2    2  4  6   1   5  6  5  0  0  29
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... g  2-5    1-1    0-0    0  2  2   1   5  2  1  0  0  29
02 ROSE, Mike..........    1-4    1-4    1-2    0  0  0   3   4  1  2  0  1  20
03 YOUNG, Keena........    7-9    0-0    0-2    4  7 11   1  14  0  2  0  0  32
20 BURGESS, Sam........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   3
43 DAWES, Derek........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  1  0  11
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   20-42   6-15   3-8    7 21 28  12  49 11 15  4  2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-24 45.8%   2nd Half:  9-18 50.0%   Game: 47.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-9  44.4%   2nd Half:  2-6  33.3%   Game: 40.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-5  60.0%   2nd Half:  0-3   0.0%   Game: 37.5%    1
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Bill Gracey, Kelly Self
Technical fouls: Air Force-BURTSCHI, Jacob. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 10041
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Air Force.....................   29   23  -   52
Brigham Young.................   29   20  -   49
Points in the paint-AF 28,BY 22. Points off turnovers-AF 14,BY 10.
2nd chance points-AF 1,BY 6. Fast break points-AF 6,BY 2.
Bench points-AF 3,BY 18. Score tied-8 times. Lead changes-12 times.