Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado Outlasts Falcons, 64-60, in Overtime
December 07, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2007
GREELEY, Colo. - The University of Northern Colorado battled back from an eight-point second-half deficit to down the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, 64-60, in overtime Thursday night (Dec. 6). The non-conference game was held at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.
With the win, the Bears improve to 5-2 on the season, while dropping the Falcons to 4-4.
The Falcons had a better shooting percentage for the night, and BGSU hit a season-high 10 three-point field goals. But, the Brown and Orange committed a total of 24 turnovers in the game, also a season high.
"Defensively, I was proud of the guys' efforts," said Falcon head coach Louis Orr. "Turnovers, though, hurt us through the entire game."
Senior Ryne Hamblet led the Falcons with a game-high 23 points, while freshman Joe Jakubowski had 11 points, the most of his brief career, off the bench. Junior Nate Miller scored 10 points to round out the Falcons' trio of double-digit scorers.
For the Bears, Jabril Banks had 15 points to lead a balanced scoring effort. Jefferson Mason and Thanasi Panagiotakopoulos had 14 points apiece, while Will Figures added 12.
The Falcons got off to a slow start, but seemed to have weathered the early UNC storm. BGSU turned the ball over on five of the first six possessions of the game, but trailed only 5-2, as the Bears were unable to find their shooting touch. When Hamblet took a pass from Jakubowski and hit a three-pointer at the 16:09 mark, the game was tied at 5-5.
The bank was open as Hamblet hit another triple less than a minute later for an 8-7 BG lead, with the senior scoring all of BG's point to that time. After a Banks jumper, Jakubowski hit a trey of his own for an 11-9 Falcon advantage.
Neither team would score for nearly five minutes, before back-to-back BGSU turnovers led to a pair of breakaway layups for the Bears midway through the half. But, junior Darryl Clements hit a left-side three-pointer, and redshirt freshman Chris Knight was fouled and hit both free throws for a 16-13 BG lead with 8:15 left before halftime.
Once again, the Falcons and Bears went cold, as each team could score just three points over the next several minutes. Hamblet snapped that cold spell by grabbing a defensive rebound and taking the ball coast to coast for a transition layup and a 21-16 lead at the 3:44 mark.
Banks got free for a dunk at the other end, but BG came right back with a Jakubowski 3 off a Hamblet pass, and the lead was six points. After a UNC layup, sophomore Marc Larson tipped in a teammate's miss with 2:15 left in the half, giving the Falcons a 26-20 lead. But, the Bears would hold the Falcons scoreless for the rest of the period, scoring seven-straight points to take a halftime lead.
In that seven-point run, Figures hit a triple, and a pair of Panagiotakopoulos free throws with just 2.4 seconds on the clock, giving the hosts a 27-26 advantage at the intermission.
In the second half, neither team would score for over two minutes, before a triple by the man with 17 letters in his last name (that would be Panagiotakopoulos) gave the home team a four-point advantage.
Miller split a pair of free throws after being fouled on a drive to the basket, and Hamblet then converted a transition layup after a UNC turnover. A trey by Mason restored the hosts' four-point lead, at 33-29, but Miller would score five-straight points on a jumper and a left-side three-ball that bounced high off the rim and in. The Falcons owned a 34-33 lead.
On a near BG turnover, sophomore Otis Polk hit the deck to grab the loose ball, enabling the Falcons to keep possession. The Falcons would not convert that possession, but several minutes later, Jakubowski's third trey of the night gave the Falcons a 39-37 lead midway through the period. But, Panagiotakopoulos answered with a triple at the other end.
Again the Falcons rallied. Polk took a pass and, facing away from the basket, fired a back-door bounce pass to Hamblet for an easy layup and a 41-40 BG lead. Then, Jakubowski hit a driving layup, muscling past his defender to give the Falcons a three-point advantage with eight minutes left.
After a Miller drive and kick, Clements hit a three-pointer from the left corner, giving the Brown and Orange a 46-40 lead and prompting the Bears to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, however, a Clements steal and breakaway layup gave the Falcons an eight-point lead. BG then forced the hosts into a shot-clock violation with 5:29 left.
Robert Palacios stopped BG's 9-0 run with a layup, but Miller took a Hamblet pass and hit a jumper in the lane. Figures drained a straightaway three for the Bears, but the Falcons used all of the shot clock, and Hamblet hit a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded. BG held a 53-45 lead with 3:44 remaining.
Once again, however, the Bears would hold the Falcons scoreless over the final few minutes of the half. UNC scored the final eight points of regulation, beginning with a three-point play by Banks around the game's last media timeout, with 3:20 left.
Mason was fouled on a three-point try, hitting two of his three free throws to cut BG's lead to 53-50 with 2:14 remaining. Neither team would score again until another three-point try by Mason bounced in with 40.2 seconds on the clock, tying the contest.
UNC got the ball back on an over-and-back call with 26.0 seconds remaining. The Bears held the ball until Mason's straight away three-point try bounced off the rim and out of bounds to the Falcons with 1.1 seconds left. BGSU's home-run pass was intercepted, however, as the clock ran out.
"Turnovers hurt us through the whole game," said Orr. "We had two big ones late in regulation. But, the last possession of regulation, they had the ball with the score tied, and to our guys' credit, we got the stop.
"We are a work in progress, but we can't turn the ball over that many times, and handle the ball the way we did. We need to play smart, and we just have to take better care of the basketball. Again, we are a work in progress, and we just have to keep working and better ourselves."
The Falcons never led in overtime. Banks converted a putback while drawing a foul with 33 seconds elapsed in the period. His free throw, however, was no good, and Knight grabbed the rebound.
Hamblet tied the score with a driving layup, but Banks worked in close and hit a short turnaround shot for a 57-55 lead with 3:47 left, giving the Bears the lead for good.
A Hamblet three-point try was halfway through the cylinder before rattling out, and the Bears grabbed the rebound. But, Banks missed at the other end, and the ball went out of bounds off a UNC player.
Larson was fouled at the other end, and split a pair of free throws with 2:40 left, cutting BG's deficit to 57-56. Panagiotakopoulos split two tosses for the hosts, doubling the UNC lead with 2:08 left.
A second-chance opportunity for the Falcons led to a UNC foul at the 1:39 mark. Hamblet made the first free throw to again cut the Bears' lead to a single point. The second free throw would not drop, but Knight grabbed the rebound. The possession ended, however, with an offensive foul whistled against BG with 1:24 left.
The Falcons got a stop and drew a foul against the Bears, but missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity and fouled on the rebound. Two free throws by Figures with 39.2 seconds left gave the hosts a 60-57 lead.
BG missed a three-point try and Mason got the rebound. He was fouled and split his two tosses with 26.2 seconds remaining. After another BG miss, Panagiotakopoulos hit a pair of free throws for a six-point lead.
Hamblet drilled a three-pointer with a defender in his face, cutting the Bears' lead in half with 9.5 seconds left. After a BG foul with 7.1 seconds left, Panagiotakopoulos missed his first free-throw try, but hit the second for a four-point lead and the eventual final score of 64-60.
The Falcons shot 39.6 percent for the game, making 21-of-53 field-goal tries. BGSU held UNC to a 35.0% rate (21-of-60). As mentioned, the Brown and Orange hit more three-pointers, with 10 to the hosts' six.
The Bears held a slim 39-38 rebounding advantage, with Banks grabbing 11 for a double-double. Knight led the Falcons with 10 boards in the game, while Hamblet had six and Miller five.
In addition to the three double-digit scorers for the Falcons, Clements had eight points and Knight five. Larson had three points to round out BG's scoring effort.
The Falcons now take a break for fall semester exams, before returning to action on Sunday, Dec. 16. On that date, the Brown and Orange will face Illinois State in a 2:00 p.m. start at Anderson Arena.
