Air Force's Saj El-Amin and the rest of the bench celebrate a run against during Air Force's 59-40 win over Wyoming in the MWC tournament Wednesday. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
Air Force held Wyoming scoreless for the last 5:27 of the second half to run away with a 59-40 win in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament this afternoon in Las Vegas.
It’s the second straight year Air Force has won the play-in game despite having a dismal MWC regular season and finishing dead last in the conference. The Falcons only won one MWC game this year, at home against Wyoming on Jan. 30. Since then Air Force has dropped nine in a row.
Senior forward Grant Parker led Air Force in scoring with 15 points. Freshman guard Michael Lyons came off the bench to add 11.
This was Air Force’s first win away from home since last year’s upset over Colorado State in the MWC tourney. Must be something about Vegas that agrees with the Falcons.
Here’s the ESPN box score.
Air Force doesn’t get much time to celebrate the win. They play No. 1 seed New Mexico (26-3) on Thursday at 1 p.m. PT. But his may not be as bad a matchup as you’d think — Air Force actually gave New Mexico a big scare during a 59-56 loss on Feb. 20.
More pics from the Wyoming game after the jump:
Evan Washington shoots over a Wyoming defender during Air Force's 59-40 win in the Mountain West tournament. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
Evan Washington passes around Wyoming's Adam Waddell. Washington finished with six points, four rebounds and three assists. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
Air Force's Grant Parker guards Wyoming's Desmar Jackson. Parker finished with a team-high 15 points. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds makes a point during his team's win over Wyoming on Wednesday. Reynolds is now 2-2 in MWC tournament games during his career. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
