Final Stats
By JOHN MOSSMAN
AP Sports Writer
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - A.J. Kuhle made a three-point play with 6.3 seconds left, lifting Air Force to a 72-70 win over UNLV on Saturday.
With the victory, Air Force (20-5, 10-2 Mountain West) clinched at least a tie for the Mountain West regular-season title and also secured the top seed in the conference tournament.
Kuhle finished with a season-high 20 points for the Falcons, while Joel Gerlach had 13 points and Antoine Hood 12.
UNLV (15-10, 6-6) was led by Jerel Blassingame with a career-high 28 points. It was the first loss in four games for interim coach Jay Spoonhour, who took over for his father, Charlie Spoonhour, on Feb. 17 when the elder Spoonhour stepped down for health reasons.
Neither team led by more than four points in a tight second half.
With two of UNLV's best players on the bench with four fouls - Odartey Blankson and J.K. Edwards - Blassingame took charge. He scored 12 of the Runnin' Rebels 16 points during one stretch, including a 3-pointer and a fastbreak layup, to help give UNLV a 53-50 lead with 7:50 remaining.
Edwards returned and hit two layups on passes from Blassingame, but Air Force's Tim Keller hit a 3-pointer and Kuhle was awarded a basket on a goaltending call against UNLV's Romel Beck for a 60-59 lead with 4:13 left. The Falcons would not trail again.
Keller's jumper made it 66-62 with 1:29 left, but Beck responded with a 3-pointer with 1:07 to go.
Blankson departed when he fouled Gerlach in 3-point range with 46.6 seconds left, and Gerlach made 2-of-3 foul shots. Keller made a free throw, and Blassingame hit two short jumpers to make it 69-69 with 21 seconds left.
Kuhle then got loose on the baseline and made a reverse layup and was fouled, making the free throw to give AFA a 72-69 lead. Blassingame hit one free throw with 4.1 seconds left but missed the second, and Gerlach was fouled on the rebound. He missed two free throws, but Beck missed a shot from midcourt at the buzzer.
Air Force opened up a 10-point lead in the first half but led only 29-27 at intermission.
The Falcons used a 14-2 run, including Kuhle's three-point play and 3-point basket, for a 16-9 lead.
Hood's jumper made it 26-16 with 6:33 left in the half.
UNLV responded with an 11-3 surge, including six points by Edwards.
