Courtesy of Air Force Athletics

TORONTO, Canada – Air Force opened its Canada Tour with 87-76 win over McMaster University Monday night at The Mattamy Athletic Centre on the Toronto Metropolitan University campus.  Senior guard Ethan Taylor led four Falcons in double figures scoring with 27 points.

Taylor was 8 of 10 from three-point range, recording a double-double with 10 rebounds.  Senior Byron Brown added 16 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.  Senior Beau Becker scored 12 points and sophomore Luke Kearney led the reserves with 10 points.

Air Force led 60-59 lead over McMaster after three quarters, before a big fourth quarter.  The Falcons out-scored the Marauders 27-17 late to pull away.

Air Force shot 53 percent from the field, making 14 three’s.  The Falcons out-rebounded McMaster 44-33.  The Marauders stayed in the game with a 23-13 advantage in second-chance points.

Joe Scott recapping the McMaster game:
“The best part of today is I got to play the guys that needed to. We were able to get a good look at them. Each game will be a little different, but we got our sophomores a lot of minutes. We’re doing a lot of different things. Defensively we’re trying different things and offensively, we’re trying different things. We have these young guys, sophomores that we’re trying to mold with the seniors. For the first game, we responded really well. We were in a close game. You want to be in those types of games.  You don’t want to come over here and just play blowouts. I wanted that kind of experience for this team. One of the best things tonight was coming back from them being up 56-55.  We went right back and grabbed the six-point lead.  Then they tied it up 68. We went on an 8-0 run to make it 76-68 and then we closed the game and that’s the kind of experience that this group needs as we try to come together. That’s purpose of the trip as we have that experience together. So it was a good first night.”

Air Force returns to action Tuesday for its next game of the five-game tour.  The Falcons take on Toronto Metro back at Mattamy Athletic Centre at 7 pm ET.