The Arkansas State men's basketball team held Air Force to a 32.1 field goal percentage and got a double-double from forward Norchad Omier, who also added a career-high six blocks, to collect a 68-46 victory over the Falcons Sunday afternoon at First National Bank Arena.
A-State won for the fifth time over its last six games, improving to 8-3 on the season and 5-1 at home. Air Force saw its record move to 7-3 on the year.
Omier posted a career-tying 22 points and season-high 16 rebounds to go along with his six blocks, which were the most by an A-State player since Jason Jennings recorded a school-record 11 against Morris Brown on Dec. 18, 2000. Joining Omier with a double-figure points total for the Red Wolves were guards Marquis Eaton and Desi Sills with 16 and 12, respectively.
A-State finished with a 47.6 field goal percentage, while defensively it held an opponent to no more than 48 points since claiming a 76-45 victory over ULM on Jan. 2, 2017. Air Force connected on just 18-of-56 shots and the Red Wolves turned 15 turnovers by the Falcons into 23 points.
Eaton was responsible for two of A-State's six steals on the day, giving him 134 for his career to move past Jay Hansen (1980-84) for the seventh most in school history. Behind Omier's 16 boards, the Red Wolves also outrebounded the Falcons 44-29.
A-State, which never trailed, jumped out to a 12-5 lead six minutes into the game before Air Forced responded with a 6-0 run to pull back within 12-11 nearly midway through the first half. However, the Red Wolves responded with 11 unanswered points to go up 23-11 at the 8:57 mark.
A-State increased its first-half advantage to as much as 17 points before taking a 34-24 lead into the break. Air Force trimmed its deficit to 37-30 early in the second half, but A-State put together another 11-0 run following a timeout to push the score to 48-30 with 11:39 remaining.
Arkansas State's lead reached 28 points, 68-40, before going on to claim the 22-point victory, which was also its largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since its January 2017 victory against ULM.
Omier picked up his sixth double-double this season and 21st of his career, while both Eaton and Sills posted double-digit points for the seventh time this year. Camden Vander Zwaag was Air Forces' leading scorer with eight points, and Lucas Moerman and Jake Heidbreder both pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
Arkansas State remains at home for its next game, hosting Lyon College on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. The contest will appear on ESPN+, and every A-State men's basketball game can be heard live on the EAB Red Wolves Sports Network, including flagship station 107.9 FM in the Northeast Arkansas area.