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Win or go home! That is what is on the line for both the Air Force Falcons and the New Mexico Lobos Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas as they open up the 2015 Mountain West Conference Tournament. The loser of this game will say goodbye to their seniors, clean out their locker rooms and start planning for the spring and summer activities while the winner will move on to a Thursday afternoon showdown with top seeded and nationally ranked Boise State. Air Force and New Mexico split their matchups this season.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Air Force (13-16, 6-12)
Pos # Name HT Yr PPG RPG
G 20 Trevor Lyons 6-3 Fr. 7.8 2.3
G 5 Zach Kocur 6-3 So. 8.2 2.1
F 35 Hayden Graham 6-5 So. 7.6 4.2
F 3 Justin Hammonds 6-6 Sr. 6.5 4.0
F 0 Marek Olesinski 6-8 Sr. 10.0 4.9
New Mexico (15-15, 7-11)
Pos # Name HT Yr PPG RPG
G 3 Hugh Greenwood 6-3 Sr. 11.5 1.3
G 20 Sam Logwood 6-7 Fr. 5.8 2.6
G 33 Deshawn Delaney 6-5 Sr. 11.7 5.3
F 12 Devon Williams 6-8 So. 6.9 3.4
C 11 Obij Aget 7-1 So. 6.9 5.3
In the first matchup of the season in Albuquerque, freshman Logwood scored a career-high 17 points and hit a crucial 3-pointer for New Mexico to defeat Air Force, 60-48. Leading the way for Air Force would be Kocur, who scored 12 points for the Falcons, but no other teammate reached double digits. Although the Lobos never trailed in the second half, they could not extend the lead beyond five points until inside five minutes. A 7-0 run that began with five foul shots pushed New Mexico's lead to 49-40. But the streak ended when the Lobos' Williams was called for a flagrant foul, which turned into a four-point Air Force possession, cutting the lead to 49-44 with 2:20 left . On the ensuing possession, Logwood buried a baseline 3-pointer just before the shot clock ran out and the Falcons did not threaten again. Greenwood had 11 points and six assists for New Mexico.
In the rematch at the United States Air Force Academy, New Mexico native Olesinski scored 18 points to lead Air Force past New Mexico, 53-49. Olesinski hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 3:00 remaining to give the Falcons the lead for good, 51-49. Freshman Lyons added two free throws with 36 second remaining to seal the win for Air Force, who out-scored New Mexico 9-0 over the last 6:40 of the game. Greenwood led the Lobos with 15 points and eight rebounds and Deshawn DeLaney added 14 points. The Lobos were held to 40.5 percent shooting and had 15 turnovers. The Falcons hit just 40.4 percent from the field, 26.9 from three-point territory and 57.1 percent from the free throw line. The Falcons were out-rebounded, 33-28, but had just eight turnovers in the game. Lanky forward Graham had nine points and a team-best six rebounds while Lyons finished with seven points and hit all four free throw attempts. Senior captain Max Yon added five points in his first action after missing six games due to injury and personal issues.
New Mexico and Air Force are meeting for the fourth time in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. New Mexico has dominated the matchups, winning all three games. Air Force all time has only won two tournament games, while New Mexico is the defending tournament champions for three years in a row.