ALBUQUERQUE – When Grant Parker drove to the hoop and scored with 27.8 seconds remaining Saturday afternoon, Air Force – yes, Air Force – led New Mexico, the nation’s 12th-ranked team, by a point at The Pit.

And within the Falcons’ grasp was the biggest upset at the legendary arena since Jimmy Valvano was running around looking for someone to hug.

But New Mexico’s Darington Hobson scored in traffic with 16.9 seconds left, an Air Force shot and tip-in attempt both missed and the Lobos, after a pair of free throws by Dairese Gary, escaped with a 59-56 victory.

“I think coach (Steve) Alford said it best – he told us we should have lost that game, but we found a way to win,” New Mexico senior Roman Martinez said.

That Air Force had a chance to win was stunning. The Falcons had lost 26 of their previous 27 regular-season Mountain West Conference games, they hadn’t won a league road game since Feb. 23, 2008 and they were coming off the third-worst loss in program history – a 43-point beat-down to BYU a week earlier.

New Mexico, meanwhile, had won 10 straight games to vault to the top of the MWC and had owned Air Force of late, taking the teams’ last five meetings by an average of 18.0 points.

But the Falcons turned in perhaps their best performance of the season, making 51.2 percent of their shots from the floor, including 40.0 percent from 3-point range, and staying close to even with the Lobos on the boards (they grabbed 23, just one less than New Mexico).

“There’s a lot of people out there who have written our kids off,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “And I think (the kids) got tired of hearing it.”

Air Force trailed 28-22 at the half, but Parker scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the first 5 minutes of the second half, and Air Force clawed back into the game. The Falcons tied the score with 12:35 left on a 3-pointer by freshman Michael Lyons, and three times down the stretch took a three-point lead, the last when Avery Merriex hit a pair of free throws with 2:51 remaining.

New Mexico, however, scored on three of its next four possessions and led, 57-56, after Hobson’s basket with 16.9 seconds left. After a New Mexico foul with 12.2 seconds left, Air Force inbounded the ball to Merriex. He drove into the paint, but his finger roll came up short of the rim, and a tip by Lyons missed. Gary then hit his free throws, and New Mexico fouled again with 0.6 of a second left. Merriex’s ensuing inbounds pass was knocked away.

“We played a great game, but New Mexico’s a great team,” Merriex said. “They just made the plays down the stretch.”

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