Air Force had four quality looks in the final minute, but none fell.

It was a fitting finish for a night that saw the Falcons put themselves in position for a “road” win. But they were haunted by poor shooting as San Jose State won 59-58 in Phoenix on Thursday.

The final flurry included misses from Chris Joyce on a 3-point attempt and a drive, an Ameka Akaya contested layup and a final misfire from about 12 feet from A.J. Walker that went in and out to finish a game that saw 10 ties and nine lead changes.

“Those were what we wanted, they just didn’t drop for us,” said Walker, who scored a game-high 21 points. “I’m happy for any of those guys to take those shots toward the end, I trust them and I know it’s going to fall.”

The Falcons went 0-for-5 over the final three minutes. But they also went just 2-for-8 over a seven-minute stretch midway through the second half as they took the lead after trailing by 10 points. They could have blown a hole in the game but instead allowed San Jose State to hang around.

Air Force shot 22 of 54 (40.7%) overall, and 8 of 29 (27.%) from 3-point range against 40 minutes of zone defense from the Spartans.

“We had some open looks that could have stretched the lead out, and it didn’t happen,” coach Joe Scott said. “Then it makes you look at the ones at the end of the game and, unfortunately, they rolled around and out and not around and in.”

The game was played at Ability 360, 0, a sports and fitness center in Phoenix designed to help those with disabilities. The Spartans moved operations there because of COVID-19 restrictions at home in California.

“It felt like playing pickup almost, or an AAU tournament,” Walker said. “The environment, in that aspect, was pretty cool.”

Air Force (4-11, 2-9 Mountain West) put itself in position to win by, for the most part, limiting turnovers (12), holding its own on the boards (SJSU led 33-30 in rebounds, but the Falcons grabbed nine on the offensive end) and it limited San Jose State to four fast-break points.

Akaya moved into the starting lineup for Air Force over Keaton Van Soelen and scored 14 points, including five straight points as the Falcons rallied for their first lead of the second half. Joyce scored 10 points, including game-tying and go-ahead 3-pointers late in the second half after he had started 0-for-7 from long range.

San Jose State (4-11, 2-9) was led by 15 points from Ralph Agee and Trey Smith.

Air Force has dropped four in a row. This was the team’s first loss this season by single digits.

“It’s disappointing, obviously,” Scott said. “You feel terrible. We remember a while ago we beat Nevada, and how did we feel then? It’s somehow in there. We’ve just got to learn to be in these games all the time. Then we get better in those situations.”