Air Force didn’t hit many shots in the second half, but coach Jeff Reynolds didn’t want his team to lose confidence.

Air Force hit just 7-of-21 shots in the second half against Maryland Eastern Shore, and just 1-of-10 3-point attempts.

“When you shoot the 3 and it doesn’t go in, guys got real tentative and doubted their shots,” Reynolds said.

“We kept telling them in the huddle to not be tentative. We were struggling against their zone – not that we weren’t getting good shots, but we were getting shots and they weren’t going in because they were so tentative. We told them, if you get an opportunity to attack, attack the glass, get a foul.”

Michael Lyons apparently was listening. He didn’t get a foul on the biggest play of the game, but his bank shot with 14.6 seconds left was the game-winning basket for the Falcons. He didn’t hesitate when he got the ball off a Maryland Eastern Shore turnover, going straight to the basket and giving the Falcons the lead.

Air Force struggled against a team it probably should have beat easily, but the Falcons kept their poise down the stretch.

“It goes that way sometimes – everything’s not always going to go your way,” Lyons said. “Things didn’t go our way in this game in the second half, but we still managed to pull it out. I think that shows great character for our team.”

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