DePaul University Athletics
DePaul Drops Heartbreaker at Air Force
3/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Box Score
Post Game Audio
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -- Jacob Burtschi scored 13 points, including the winning basket with 7.7 seconds left to send Air Force to the NIT semifinals with a 52-51 win over DePaul on Wednesday night.
Draelon Burns, who scored 18 points and had five 3-pointers, rimmed out a 3-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer after Burtschi missed a free throw following his layup. The Falcons (26-8), top seeded in the West, play South Region top seed Clemson in the semifinals on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Matt McCraw also scored 13 points for the Falcons, who nearly saw their 33-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents snapped.
Tim Anderson, who was in foul trouble after picking up his third one late in the first half, scored on a layup with 3 1/2 minutes left to give Air Force a 47-46 lead, its first since the opening minutes of the second half. The lead changed three more times, with Wilson Chandler putting DePaul up 51-50 with a 3-pointer with just under two minutes left.
Dan Nwaelele's basket was called off when he was whistled for a charge with 1:14 left, stunning the Falcons and their fans who had thought he was on his way to the foul line for a three-point play.
After a timeout, Anderson knocked the inbounds pass off inbounder Jabari Currie, giving the Falcons the ball under their basket. But Nwaelele was whistled again away from the ball with 47 seconds left.
The Blue Demons again gave the ball back, this time when Sammy Mejia turned it over after running into Anderson with 16 seconds remaining.
Burtschi scored with 7.7 seconds left and was fouled by Chandler. After a timeout, Burtschi missed his free throw and DePaul got the rebound.
With a bigger, more physical lineup, frequent substitutions to deal with the altitude and a deft shooting touch from outside, the Blue Demons weathered an early 16-2 Air Force run that began with back-to-back uncontested layups by Burtschi to trail just 29-26 at the half thanks to 12 first-half points by Burns.
Burns started the second half with a 3 that sparked a 9-2 Blue Demons run that put DePaul ahead 35-31. His fifth 3-pointer, which came after he banged his head hard on the floor while committing a foul, made it 38-34, and Chandler followed with another 3-pointer to give DePaul its biggest lead at 41-34.
But Burns didn't score again.
The Falcons re-energized their crowd by scoring seven straight points to set up the frenetic final minutes.
The Blue Demons finish the 2006-07 season 20-14.
