Air Force Men's Basketball Falls to Fresno State

Bulldogs rally in second half to defeat Falcons at Clune Arena

Jan. 31, 2026 at 6:15pm

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The Air Force men's basketball team stayed close with Fresno State in the first half, trailing by just five points at the break. However, the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Falcons 35-23 to win 79-62 at Clune Arena on Saturday.

Why it matters

This game was a rematch of last year's overtime thriller that saw Air Force take down Fresno State. The Bulldogs were able to get revenge this season, handing the struggling Falcons their 10th straight loss in Mountain West play.

The details

Air Force went cold after halftime, going without a field goal for 7 minutes as Fresno State built a lead of up to 22 points. The Falcons shot just 39% overall after a 55% first half performance. Six Air Force freshmen accounted for 44 of the team's points, led by Ethan Greenberg's 11 points and 6 rebounds.

  • Air Force stayed close with Fresno State and was down by five at half time.
  • Fresno State outscored the Falcons 35-23 in the second half.
  • The Bulldogs led by as many as 22 points in the second half after a 14-3 run.
  • Sophomore Elliott Tate scored two 3-pointers in the final 2 minutes for Air Force.

The players

Jon Jordan

The interim head coach of the Air Force Falcons.

Riley Dering

A freshman player for the Air Force Falcons who had 8 points in the game.

Ethan Greenberg

A freshman player for the Air Force Falcons who led the team with 11 points and 6 rebounds.

Caleb Walker

The top scorer for the Air Force Falcons, who missed his fourth straight game due to injury.

David Douglas Jr.

The leading scorer for the Fresno State Bulldogs with 21 points, including 15 from 3-point range.

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What they’re saying

“Sometimes when you have a cooling off period, when it's just emotion and just passion, it kind of evaporates. We need to figure out how to retain that. Our habits and our framework that we are training under we need to trust better so we can go from the first half, have a cooling off period and start the second half.”

— Jon Jordan, Interim Head Coach, Air Force Falcons (Denver Gazette)

“They were more conditioned than us and were able to get up the floor quicker. Just from a holistic standpoint we couldn't keep up with how fast they were playing. It eventually caught up to us, which was reflected by the score.”

— Riley Dering, Freshman Player, Air Force Falcons (Denver Gazette)

“It's hard on our best players to go the distance. You start picking up fouls, turning the ball over, and a lot of that is due to fatigue. Our young players can give us a little bit of relief in that area. We are seeing some glimpses of quality performance from some of our freshmen.”

— Jon Jordan, Interim Head Coach, Air Force Falcons (Denver Gazette)

What’s next

The Falcons will travel to Phoenix on Tuesday to face Mountain West newcomer Grand Canyon at 7 p.m. MT.

The takeaway

Air Force's struggles continued as they fell to Fresno State, unable to maintain their first-half performance. The Falcons will need to find ways to keep their energy and execution consistent for a full 40 minutes if they hope to end their 10-game conference losing streak.