Air Force Academy

Juniors Nick Welch and Antoine Hood received top honors Thursday night at the Air Force men's basketball banquet, held at the Cheyenne Mountain Conference Resort in Colorado Springs. Welch and Hood shared the Bob Spear Award, given to the student-athlete that is outstanding in all areas of the Academy - academics, athletics and military performance. There is no higher honor for a men's basketball player.
Welch finished second on the team in scoring and rebounding in '04-05, and led the squad in assists. The Fort Worth, Texas, product, who was also named team MVP, earned second-team all-MWC honors this year and was named all-district by the United States Basketball Writers Association and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Welch averaged 12 points and 3.6 rebounds per game this season and dished out 91 assists.

Hood, meanwhile, was also a second-team all-MWC selection after leading the team in scoring, averaging 13 points per game. He scored in double figures in nine of his last 10 games and scored a team season-high 24 points in a 58-53 victory over Colorado State.
Senior co-captains Tim Keller and Caleb Buchanan shared the Falcon Award, given to the player that gives 100 percent regardless of the situation and his place on the team. Keller, who is AFA's career leader in games played with 115, became the 17th player in school history to score 1,000 points in his career and finished 11th on the school's career scoring list with 1,105 points. He was an all-MWC honorable mention this season.
Buchanan played in all 30 games for the Falcons in '04-05, averaging 2.6 points and just under two rebounds per game. He is one of a select few to earn a spot on the varsity program after playing on the junior varsity team, which he did as a freshman. Buchanan scored a career-high 10 points against IPFW and Texas-Pan American this season.