Rebels down Air Force

Steve Addy

Saturday, Feb. 17, 2001 | 9:42 a.m.

COLORADO SPRINGS -- The Rebels are playing only for pride now. They showed Saturday night that they still have some left.

A day after the NCAA denied UNLV's appeal of this year's postseason ban, the Rebels charged out of the starting gate for a 13-point lead and held on to beat Air Force 86-78 at Clune Arena.

Instead of cashing in the season, the Rebels put out a solid road effort by shooting 64 percent and holding off a determined Falcons team. UNLV hurried to a 22-9 lead, but Air Force pulled within three points four times in the second half before the Rebels regained control.

Fueled by Kaspars Kambala, whose 24 points moved him into 10th place on UNLV's all-time list, the Rebels improved to 6-4 in the Mountain West and 15-10 overall. They have beaten Air Force 12 straight times.

The only tangible goal left for UNLV is to somehow win the MWC regular-season title. By winning their four remaining games, the Rebels could get in the hunt, but it would be small consolation after they were ruled out of postseason play. The NCAA denied the postseason ban appeal Friday.

"We showed everyone that we aren't going to bag the season," said Trevor Diggs, who had 19 points and eight assists, the latter matching his season high.

Diggs scored seven points in the final 3:16, starting with a long 3-pointer that put the Rebels ahead 73-66. He hit four free throws in the final 46 seconds to keep UNLV safely ahead.

Kambala was dominant from the start, with eight points in the 22-9 start. His fifth point gave him 1,318 for his career, lifting him over Larry Johnson, and his 20th point gave him 1,333, moving him ahead of Anderson Hunt.

Also, with six rebounds, Kambala has 892 and moved past Armen Gilliam (890) for fifth on UNLV's all-time list.

Dalron Johnson added 12 points and Chris Richardson 11 for the Rebels, who visit New Mexico on Monday night at 6 p.m. After shooting 67 percent in the first half (16-of-24), UNLV finished at 64.3 (27-of-42). That was a season-low for Rebels field-goal attempts.

"But we made the most of them," coach Max Good said.

Tom Bellairs compiled a career-high 20 points and eight rebounds to lead Air Force, which had a two-game home winning streak snapped and fell to 2-7, 7-16. The Falcons are 0-13 when they give up 60 or more points.

Jarvis Croff supplied 19 points, Joel Gerlach 13 and Lamoni Yazzie 12, but the Falcons suffered from the foul-outs of Gerlach, Yazzie and Croff in the final 7:11.

"Our defense was bad tonight, probably as bad as it has been all season," Air Force coach Joe Scott said. "But as bad as it was, we still had a ton of chances to get back in it."

For the first 9:23 it looked like the Rebels would blow out Air Force, as they took a 22-9 lead behind Kambala and one 3-pointer each by Vince Booker, Diggs, Jermaine Lewis and Danny Brotherson.

Then Air Force's shooting heated up, too. After going scoreless for the first four minutes and making only four of their first 16 shots, the Falcons went 8-of-11 to finish the half and climb within 40-30. Croff hit three 3-pointers during the spurt.

Air Force continued its rally in the second half, making five of its first six shots to cut the Rebels' lead to 45-42 with 17 minutes left. With 8:34 remaining, the Falcons were still down by only three 59-56.

They didn't get closer than that, but only because the Rebels kept hitting crucial shots. Diggs' long 3-pointer gave UNLV a 73-66 lead with 3:16 to play. Dalron Johnson made two free throws with 2:25 left to restore a seven-point edge and his tip-in with 1:41 left did the same.