COLORADO SPRINGS – Missouri State tallied more field goals than their opponent and committed just five turnovers on the night, but home standing Air Force (6-3) was deadly from the perimeter and converted 82 percent of its foul shots to down the visiting Bears, 83-70.
Jarred Dixon was 9-of-11 from the field off the bench to finish with a career-high 21 points for MSU (4-2), while Ronnie Rousseau III also matched a career high with 17 points.
Frank Toohey led six Air Force scorers in double figures with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
The game was part of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge, which the MVC leads 5-4 with one game to be played in two weeks.
Missouri State was just 8-for-34 (.235) from long distance and was one attempt shy of its school record of 35 3-point attempts. The Bears were 13-of-18 in the second half from two-point range to make several runs only to come up short.
After trailing by nine at the break, the Bears cut into the deficit early in the second stanza on a 3-pointer by Dequon Miller and four minutes later got within 48-41 on a put-back by Alize Johnson.
But midway through the final period, the Falcons notched a couple of clutch buckets deep into the shot clock with Trevor Lyons stepping up from the outside on three occasions. Lyons gave Air Force its biggest lead of the night, 70-53 with 5:34 to go after reeling off his third straight jumper.
The Bears rallied late with a 10-2 run to make it a 72-63 game with just over four minutes to play, but the Falcons seemed to get every whistle down the stretch and converted 16-of-19 free throws on the half, scored their last 13 points from the stripe and scored no field goals over the last 5:36.
In the first half, the Bears struggled from the perimeter, making just 4-of-18 beyond the arc and shot just 40 percent overall to trail 41-32 at the midway point.
MSU jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the opening possession on a 3-pointer by Rousseau, but the home squad reeled off the game’s next nine points and got nine of their first 11 tallies from big man Toohey.
With Obediah Church on the shelf with an injury and Alize Johnson on the pine with two quick fouls, Missouri State turned to Tyler McCullough who made his first appearance of the season. McCullough’s 6-foot-11 presence seemed to neutralize the inside play of the Falcons and sparked a 12-4 run by the Bears. A triple by Austin Ruder, a transition layup by Dixon and a layup by Jordan Martin made it a 23-20 game just under midway through the half.
After Air Force answered with a 3-pointer on its next trip down, another trey by Rousseau at the 6:48 mark made it a 26-23 contest. But MSU was unable to close the gap and Air Force went on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes to lead 39-25. MSU was able to close the deficit to 41-32 at the break with clutch buckets by Dixon and Rousseau in the final minute.
For the game, Missouri State was 29-for-64 (.453) from the field and 4-of-5 (.800) at the line with 24 rebounds. The Bears outscored Air Force 22-20 in the paint and tallied 13 points off AF turnovers.
Air Force was 27-for-48 (.563) overall, 11-of-18 (.611) from bonus range and 18-of-22 (.818) at the line with 37 rebounds and 10 turnovers. The Falcons improved to 6-0 at home this season.
The Bears return to action Wednesday, Dec. 7 at Southeast Missouri State at 6:30 p.m., to wrap the two-game road swing. MSU returns home next Saturday, December 10 for a “Black Out” game against Valparaiso at 7 p.m.
