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Nwaelele leads Air Force comeback vs. New Mexico

Jan 10, 2007 - 5:58 AM COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Ticker) -- With his team trailing by a substantial margin, Dan Nwaelele decided to do something about it.

Nwaelele scored 22 points, including 16 in the second half, as No. 15 Air Force posted a 65-57 comeback victory over New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference.

Matt McCraw scored 21 points and Nick Welch added nine for the Falcons (16-1, 2-0 Mountain West), who were down by 15 points at halftime before their second-half burst.

"At halftime, no voices were raised," Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We just said that we needed a sense of urgency. We're not good enough to just show up."

Nwaelele, who made just two of his first seven shots, went 5-of-7 after the break for Air Force, which started the second half with a 34-8 scoring spree to take a 58-47 lead midway through the second half.

The Falcons shot 51 percent (20-of-39) from the field and have won 12 straight overall and 25 in a row at home.

"Our crowd won this game for us as much as the players on the court did," Bzdelik said. "We should be 15-1 and the crowd should be 1-0."

Darren Prentice scored 18 points and Tony Danridge added 15 for New Mexico (11-7, 0-3), which shot 51 percent (23-of-45) and has lost four straight and dropped seven in a row here.

"Air Force got some shots in the second," New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay said. "They got some deflections and were able to capitalize.