Through its first eight games, the offensive plan for Air Force men’s basketball team centered around spreading out the scoring load and winning with balance.

On Saturday night, the Falcons let Michael Lyons carry them. Lyons, a sophomore guard, scored a season-best 24 points in a 63-52 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Derek Brooks and Taylor Broekhuis also got into double digits with baskets late in the game. Brooks and Broekhuis finished with 11 points. But for most of the night, Lyons led the way.

Lyon’ aggressiveness led to 13 free-throw attempts. The rest of the team had 10 combined.

“I just got to the line tonight, got a lot of layups,” Lyons said.

Lyons scored 24 despite hyper-extending his knee in the first minutes of the game. He came out of the game for a while, then came back later and logged 32 minutes, although he said the knee affected him some.

“It did a little,” Lyons said. “I couldn’t jump the way I wanted to. But I could play through it.”

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