Shorthanded Falcons Prevail in 67-64 Win at SFU in CIT

Final Statistis: Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)
Video: Game Highlights
Audio - Postgame Press Conference: Jans, Chris
Audio: Postgame Radio Interview with Coach Jans
Radio Calls by Todd Walker, The Voice of the Falcons:
Henderson 3pt basket in 1st half (SFU, 12-7)
Joseph basket in 1st half (BG, 16-15)
Henderson with another 3pt basket in 1st half (BG, 21-15)
Clarke gives BG lead back in 1st half (BG, 28-26)
Mayleben 3pt basket in 2nd half (Tied, 43-43)
Gomez layup puts BG in front (BG, 54-53)
Henderson 3pt basket in 2nd half (BG, 57-53)
Gomez basket late in the game (BG, 65-62)
Final Call - BG wins first tournament game in 40 years

Loretto, Pa. – Behind Anthony Henderson's game-high 20 points, the shorthanded Bowling Green State University men's basketball team overcame a slow start to defeat Saint Francis University (Pa.) 67-64 in the first round of the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) on Tuesday night on the road at DeGol Arena in Loretto, Pennsylvania.

The win on Tuesday night was the first national postseason tournament win for the Falcons since defeating Tennessee in the National Commissioner's Invitational (NCI) back in 1975. The win also snapped a 10-game postseason losing streak for the Falcons.

"I'm happy for the program in general. I'm happy for the fans that have been loyal BGSU fans and that have followed the men's basketball team specifically for so many decades," stated head coach Chris Jans. "I don't care what postseason it is, it's postseason. I thought it was crucial and important for us to end that drought."

BGSU, who played without both Richaun Holmes and Delvin Dickerson due to injuries, had 10 different players log six minutes or more in the contest, while eight of those 10 Falcons' scored at least three points in the postseason win.

Beyond Henderson's 20 points, in which the sharp-shooter was 7-of-10 overall and 4-of-5 from behind the three-point line, fellow senior Jehvon Clarke tallied 12 points and eight rebounds, while Josh Gomez added a career-high 10 points and seven rebounds in only his second career start.

Led by Jovan Austin's five assists, the Falcons registered 15 assists on 25 made baskets.

The Red Flash of Saint Francis had a trio of player s in double figures led by Malik Harmon's 18 points. Earl Brown finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while Greg Brown chipped in with 13 points and four assists.

"We just talked about having all hands on deck. That we were going to play more guys than usual and try to keep fresh bodies in there as much as possible. Some guys that hadn't played a lot of minutes earlier in the season had a couple of runs, especially in the first half, and we felt like we needed to do that to make up for being two guys down," continued Jans. "It was fun to see our team close the game out. We've been in a lot of close games all year long. You know, we've won a few, but we've lost our share as well. It was coming down to the wire again and I just liked the way they finished it. They got a couple key loose balls. They made a couple key free throws. But it was good to see our guys close the game out."

The Falcons got off to a slow start out of the opening tip, as SFU pounded the offensive glass early and used the three-point line to rake a 9-2 lead on an offensive rebound and layup by Brown at the 16:46 mark of the first half.

After a layup from the block from Clarke and a second three-ball from the Flash put the home team in front by eight at 12-4, the Falcons finally awakened as back-to-back treys from Henderson and Austin from the right wing jump started a 17-3 run by the visitors in orange who flew out to a six-point lead at 21-15 on another three-pointer from Henderson with 8:21 left to play in the opening period.

However, following an SFU timeout, the Flash answered with an 8-2 surge to tie the game back up at 23-23 at the 5:09 mark on another offensive rebound and put back basket.

The two teams traded baskets and the lead for the rest of the half until an offensive rebound and three-pointer from SFU's Brown with 10 seconds left in the period pushed the Flash out in front by three at 33-30 at the halftime break.

With seven offensive rebounds for the Flash in the first half, the Falcons clamped down in the second half to hold the home team to just four offensive rebounds in the final 20 minutes of play.

BGSU opened up the second half with a 15-foot jumper from Gomez to get to within one at 33-32 at the 18:47 mark of the final period to start a trend in which the two teams went back-and-forth until a three-ball from Harmon pushed the Flash's lead out to five at 41-36 with 15:41 to go in the game.

Following back-to-back layups from Spencer Parker and Austin, and a driving layup from SFU, redshirt-freshman forward Garrett Mayleben drained a three-pointer to tie the game up for a fourth time, this time at 43-43, at the 13:52 mark.

Two more ties and five lead changes later, the Flash got a fast break dunk by Brown to give the home team in white a 59-57 lead with 5:15 left on the game clock.

The Falcons tied the game up once more on a layup down low from Parker, then saw two free throws from Henderson give the Orange and Brown a 61-59 lead with 4:17 to go in regulation.

Two minutes later, free throws from David Joseph gave BGSU back the lead at 63-62, a lead that the visitors would not relinquish for the rest of the game.

The final two minutes saw BGSU come up big on the defensive end with five straight stops, while offensively the Falcons got a layup from Gomez on the right block by way of an assist from Joseph, who then followed with two straight free throws with 8.9 seconds to help seal the 67-64 win.

In the close contest, which saw 13 lead changes and eight ties, BGSU shot 41 percent (25-of-61) overall, 40 percent (8-of-20) from behind the three-point line and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the charity stripe. The Flash shot 41.9 percent (26-of-62) from the floor, but was just 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) from long range.

BGSU's bench outscored Saint Francis' bench 19-2 for the contest, held a 16-14 edge in second chance points and an 11-7 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Flash did outscore the Falcons 36-28 in points in the paint and 6-4 in fast break points.

Bowling Green (21-11) will next play in the second round of the 2015 CIT tournament on either Friday or Saturday, March 20-21. The opponent, date and time has yet to be determined. Check back at www.BGSUFalcons.com for the second round information.

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Notes
* The 67-64 win is the first-ever win for the Falcons in the CIT postseason tournament (1-1).
* BGSU's win is the first win in a national postseason tournament since the NCI in 1975, 40 years.
* BGSU's victory snapped the Falcons' national postseason tournament losing streak at 10 games.
* With the win, BGSU moves to 21-11 overall on the season to give the Falcons the most wins in a single season since 24 victories in 2001-02.
* Redshirt-senior Anthony Henderson recorded his third 20 point game of the season and fifth of his career.
* Jehvon Clarke notched double digit points for the 17th time this season and 38th for his career.
* Josh Gomez scored a career-high 10 points in a career-high 28 minutes of play.
* Senior guard Damarkeo Lyshe made his first career start as a Falcon in the postseason win.

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Anthony Henderson

Jehvon Clarke

Josh Gomez

Spencer Parker

Players Mentioned

Jovan Austin

Jehvon Clarke

Delvin Dickerson

Josh Gomez

Anthony Henderson

Richaun Holmes

David Joseph

Damarkeo Lyshe

Garrett Mayleben

Spencer Parker

Players Mentioned

Jovan Austin

Jehvon Clarke

Delvin Dickerson

Josh Gomez

Anthony Henderson

Richaun Holmes

David Joseph

Damarkeo Lyshe

Garrett Mayleben

Spencer Parker

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