Red Wolves rout Air Force Sunday afternoon

Arkansas State executed its game plan to head coach Mike Balado's satisfaction Sunday afternoon.

The Red Wolves routed Air Force 68-46 in a performance Balado described as likely their best of the season.

ASU handled the Falcons' deliberate, disciplined offense with little trouble and executed efficiently when they had the basketball.

"We played a great team game on both ends of the floor. It was a great win for us, one of the best I've had since I've been here, because I have a lot of respect for Air Force," Balado said.

The Red Wolves (8-3) handed the Falcons (7-3) their most lopsided loss of the season in a game they led by as many as 28 points. They scored the most points Air Force has yielded this season while holding the Falcons to season lows in points and field goal percentage (32.1 percent).

Senior guard Marquis Eaton said ASU adjusted its defensive approach against Air Force, which often ran the shot clock under 10 seconds.

Offensively, ASU went to Norchad Omier early and often on a day when the second-year freshman forward scored 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Twelve minutes into the game, Omier had more points (14) than the Falcons as ASU held a 25-13 lead. He made his first seven shots from the field and finished 9-of-14 for the day.

Omier scored 15 points in a first half that ended with ASU leading 34-24. The Red Wolves led by as many as 17 before the Falcons closed the half on a 7-0 run.

Air Force made another small run in the second half, scoring six consecutive points to creep within 37-30. Balado called time and the Red Wolves responded with a 20-3 run to take a 57-33 lead with 8:18 remaining.

Omier punctuated a dominant performance with a dunk at the 1:39 mark, giving ASU its largest lead at 68-40.

The Red Wolves shot 47.4 percent as a team and held a 44-29 rebounding advantage. Eaton scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Desi Sills added 12 points in less than 14 minutes off the bench.

Balado said Sills, ASU's season scoring leader, had been sick since Thursday with the flu. While he wasn't able to practice in the days leading up to the game, Sills watched scouting tape on his phone, Balado said.

Omier also made an impact defensively with six blocked shots, the most by a Red Wolf since Jason Jennings had 11 against Morris Brown in the 2000-01 season.

Camden Vander Zwaag led Air Force with eight points off the bench. Guard A.J. Walker, the Falcons' season scoring leader with a pregame average of 19.1 points, finished with a season-low six points on 3-of-11 shooting.

The Falcons entered the game shooting 48.1 percent from the field but were only 18-of-56 Sunday.