They got one. Finally.

Air Force 71, Colorado State 67.

The Falcons had come close in recent weeks. Their last four games were decided by five, three, three and five points, respectively, and they were either tied with or within a basket of their opponents with less than a minute to play in each of them.

This time – finally – they made enough plays down the stretch.

And now – finally – the seniors have something positive they can point to in their final season: The program’s first ever victory at the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

The question now – can they get another?

Of the top five seeds in the tournament (BYU, Utah, New Mexico, San Diego State and UNLV), I think the Falcons match up best with the Cougars. They played BYU tough at home for 30 minutes. And last Saturday they went right down to the wire with the Cougars in Provo.

“I think we’re feeling pretty confident coming off what we did there,” senior guard/forward Andrew Henke said of the Falcons’ 54-49 loss at BYU. “Despite (a season-high) 22 turnovers, we almost won the game. If we keep focused, like we were on defense at BYU in Provo, you know, I think anything can happen. The confidence we have from tonight and the last couple weeks, hopefully it will just carry over.”

I think the Falcons believe they can win tomorrow – and believing is half the battle. That belief might explain their reaction after today’s victory.

I thought the Falcons might react like they’d won the national title game at the final buzzer, considering they hadn’t tasted victory since Dec. 28, 2008.

Nope.

The Falcons were subdued.

“We didn’t feel the need to celebrate afterwards,” Henke said. “I mean, we’re out here to take care of business. So we just said, you know, we got another game tomorrow, so keep our heads high, keep our confidence high, and move on to the next game.”

Game on.

Other notes:

-I spoke to athletic director Hans Mueh before the game. He gave Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds a vote of confidence, saying “I like what he’s doing, I like the staff. … I’d like Jeff to hang around.”

So much so that he said he’d add another year to Reynolds’ contract when the two meet after the season.

“We haven’t even talked about that, but if Jeff wants to do that, I like Jeff, and I like the coaching staff, and I’ll do that for him,” Mueh said.

Reynolds’ contract is set up like football coach Troy Calhoun’s – it is a five-year deal that can be “rolled over” each year (if both sides agree) so that he always has five years remaining on the contract.

I told Mueh that I thought some people might not agree with adding a year, given the Falcons went 0-16 in MWC regular season play. Here’s what Mueh said:

“Last year everybody thought that Jeff Reynolds was an absolute genius to take what he had – having said that, he had one phenomenal leader in Timmy Anderson – but still, to go 8-8 in the conference, 16 wins, with what we lost was unbelievable. So how does that genius turn into – come on. I am certainly willing to give a coach like Jeff more than one year without dooming him. I like him. I like what he’s doing, I like the staff, I think there’s great synergy there. It’s almost the same kind of synergy that we have on the football team. I’m delighted. I’d like Jeff to hang around. We’ve had four head coaches in five years – that’s not fair to the kids, hurts recruiting and all the rest of that. So I’m good with this.”

-Gazette columnist David Ramsey isn’t on board. He wrote about it this evening on his blog, which you can find here.

-Henke scored in double figures for the eighth straight game and made a pair of enormous 3s in the final five minutes. But the MVP of Wednesday’s game might have been Evan Washington.

The guard has suffered through a pretty tough sophomore campaign. He lost his starting job. He saw his minutes reduced. He battled confidence problems with his shot.

But tonight he was every bit as good as most thought he could be this season. He made all five of his shots, including a pair of clutch 3s (just his seventh and eighth of the season). And, more impressively, he made six of eight free throws down the stretch to help Air Force hang on. He was shooting just 58.8 percent from the line heading into the game.

-How about this stat: Air Force’s top four scorers – Henke and Washington, who had 18 apiece, and Anwar Johnson and Grant Parker, who had 15 and 12, respectively – combined to shoot 22-of-30 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range.

-Reynolds gave Avery Merriex his first career start because guard Shawn Hempsey has the flu.

Merriex’s nerves were apparent. On Colorado State’s first possession he lost track of Marcus Walker, who cut back door for an open layin (which missed), and on Air Force’s second possession he shot an air ball. He played just three minutes and didn’t return. But Reynolds is a superstitious guy, so don’t be surprised if Merriex is back in the lineup tomorrow.

-Reynolds was in obvious discomfort during his post-game press conference because of what he called “a kidney stone attack.” He said he had pain in his side and back.

-CSU coach Tim Miles was a gentleman in defeat. Here are his opening remarks from his post-game press conference: “Well, first of all, I’d just like to congratulate Air Force. I’m proud of those guys to hang in there and keep getting better and better in terms of, we’ve been there, done that. You’ve got a first-class operation with coach Reynolds in charge and obviously the academy. It was just – if you look at it from a fan perspective – I just was appreciative of their effort, the way they came out and executed their stuff. I’m happy for those guys.”

-Reynolds said his players have “bought in” the last 10 or 11 games.

“They’ve stayed the course,” he said. “They’ve heard all the media. They’ve heard all the naysayers. And they never quit believing. You know, that’s what the academy is about.”

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