NORFOLK, Va. – In a tight defensive battle at Echols Hall Saturday, Air Force guard Riley Snyder scored 25 points to lead the Falcons to a 54-41 win over Norfolk State.

Visiting Air Force (3-3) held the Spartans (2-4) to 25 percent shooting in the game and just 17 second-half points to pull away for the win.

Neither team led by six in a tightly contested first half that saw both teams shoot under 35 percent. Early 3-pointers by Camille Downs and Deja Francis got the Spartans off to a quick start. A Mahoganie Williams jumper late in the period gave NSU a 14-12 lead, but Audrey Gadison answered with a trey for the Falcons and Haley Jones made a free throw with 20 seconds left in the period to give AFA a 16-14 lead after one.

NSU fought back and retook at the lead at 20-19 at the 6:00 mark of the second quarter after another triple by Downs. Air Force countered with a 7-0 spurt, but two driving buckets by Francis brought NSU within 26-24 at halftime.

Snyder scored eight points in the third quarter while Air Force held NSU to 22 percent shooting (2-for-9) and forcing eight Spartan turnovers in the stanza, which ended with the visitors ahead 40-32.

NSU's struggles continued into the fourth quarter, as the Spartans went more than eight minutes without a field goal to start the period. Snyder hit a trio of jumpers, one of them a 3-pointer, as the Falcons stretched their lead from eight beginning the period to as many as 20.

NSU hit just 4-for-24 from the floor in the second half (17 percent), while the Falcons made 11-of-24 (40 percent).

Downs paced NSU with 13 points, Francis scored 11, and Williams had eight points and six rebounds. Defensively, Francis had three blocks and Armani Franklin a game-high five steals.

Snyder was the only Air Force player with more than six points. Jones corralled 14 rebounds as the Falcons topped NSU 41-29 on the glass. Air Force scored 20 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds.

The Spartans return to action next Saturday in a 2 p.m. contest at Hampton.