Purdue Fort Wayne
Air Force
Air Force Grounds IPFW
12/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2006
USAFA, CO-A local Colorado radio station described today's Air Force-IPFW game as a "powder-puff" contest for the Falcons. Air Force had just come off of a 94-58 blowout of ACC opponent Wake Forest, so what chance did Independent IPFW have? Apparently a good one, as the gritty 'Dons gave the Falcons everything they could handle before falling 78-66.
It didn't appear that would be the case early in the game as Air Force took a 13-5 lead on an old-fashioned three-point play by senior forward Dan Nwaelele.
However, the 'Dons would dig in, and after a three-pointer by sophomore guard Jakari Johnson and a triple from senior forward Justin Hawkins, IPFW grabbed a 21-20 lead with 7:50 left in the opening half.
Air Force took their biggest lead in the first half on a three-ball from Nwaelele that made the score 32-23, but with under a minute left, the Mastodons got a layup from junior forward Jaruan Burrows and a pair of free-throws from junior forward Zeljko Egeric to cut the AF lead to 34-29 at half.
IPFW remained close throughout the entire second half.
A triple from Johnson pulled IPFW to within two (49-47) at the 12:16 mark.
Nwaelele hit his third from behind the arc, with just over eight minutes remaining, to give AF an 11-point, 63-52 lead.
The Mastodons mounted one final charge. Junior forward DeWitt Scott knocked down a jumper at the 4:45 mark to draw the 'Dons to within six (63-57).
But, the Mastodons couldn't overcome the foul-shooting of Air Force (8-1) the rest of the way.
The Falcons made 29 of 35 attempts from the charity stripe. On the flip-side, IPFW attempted only five foul-shots the entire game (2-5).
Both teams shot very well in the contest. Air Force shot 59.5% (22-37), while the 'Dons shot 51.0% (26-51).
IPFW tried to overcome the lack of free-throws with three-pointers. IPFW hit 12 in the game, five coming from Johnson who led the Mastodons with a career-high 19 points.
Scott was the only other "Don in double-figures with 15 points.
Nwaelele led all scorers with 26 points. Junior guard Tim Anderson scored 18 for the Airmen, while senior forward Jacob Burtschi added 14.
With the loss, IPFW falls to 3-5 on the season. They are now 1-1 on the current three-game road trip which ends on Wednesday at Michigan State. Game-time is 7:00pm.
~Dons~
