Air Force basketball seniors want to go out winners

The Air Force Falcons basketball team will feature four seniors this season who all have starting experience, and they want to win some ballgames under new head coach Dave Pilipovich. The Falcons have won only 10 Mountain West conference games during the three-year career of seniors Taylor Broekhuis, Mike Fitzgerald, Todd Fletcher and Michael Lyons.

Pilipovich replaced Jeff Reynolds in February as an interim head coach and was signed to a three-year deal after last season concluded. Lyons, who averaged 15.6 points a game last year, had this to say about playing a full season under his coach:

"It’s a less-complicated offense," Lyons said. "It lets us go out and play instead of worrying about so many other things."

Air Force will get tested several times before Mountain West play begins. The Falcons play their annual game with the Colorado Buffaloes at Boulder and they will host the Wichita State Shockers at Clune Arena. They will travel to face the Florida and Richmond, where they will square off against a Spiders team led by former Air Force coach Chris Mooney.

Air Force opens the season Nov. 10 against the Army Black Knights in the All-Military Classic, hosted by The Citadel.