Staff Report
The UNM men's basketball team came within a hair's breadth of ending its road losing streak Saturday at Air Force.
Danny Granger's shot with three seconds left bounced off the back of the rim to let Mountain West Conference leader Air Force escape with a 51-50 win. UNM's dubious streak now stands at 23 games.
Lobo head coach Ritchie McKay said he was disappointed but still proud of his team's effort.
"I think we're getting close to where we need to be," McKay said in a news release. "Unfortunately we picked up another road loss, but I'm proud of the way we battled today. Air Force is a good team, and they haven't lost at home. In fact, no team has really been close. I thought we played to win.We just didn't come out with the desired result."
The Lobos (13-9, 4-5) got out of the gates quickly, jumping to an 8-0 lead to start the game. But the Falcons showed their mettle with hustle and timely 3-point shooting.
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Air Force clawed its way back into the game to whittle UNM's lead to 27-26 at halftime. The first half was also marred by a shouting match between UNM's McKay and AFA's Joe Scott, which was sparked by a double foul by Granger and the Falcons' Jacob Burtschi.
The Lobos stretched their lead to 41-34 in the latter stages of the second half. However, when they spread the floor to run out the clock, Air Force once again closed the gap. The teams exchanged leads five times in the last three minutes to set up the last-gasp ending.
Sophomore walk-on Jeff Hart hit a huge three with just more than one minute remaining to give UNM a 49-48 lead with time winding down.
Falcon forward Antoine Hood then hit three big free throws, on either side of a David Chiotti three-point play, to give Air Force a 51-50 lead. On the Lobos' final possession, Granger had a good look, but it caromed off the iron to keep Air Force atop the MWC standing and prolong UNM's search for its first road win in more than two seasons.
Although Air Force only hit on 11-20 free throws, McKay said the free throws they made down the stretch were the difference.
"They didn't have many field goals today, but they got to the line today," he said. "They're one of the most physical teams in the league. We haven't figured out how to guard them yet."
Granger led the Lobos with 15 points while Hood led all scorers with 16.
UNM gets its next shot to break the streak Saturday at BYU. The game will be televised live on KRQE Channel 13 at 7 p.m.
