Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Savannah State
Savannah State Comes Back To Beat Falcons
December 01, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2008
Savannah, Ga. - The Bowling Green men's basketball team saw a 21-point halftime lead slip away in a 57-54 road loss to Savannah State Monday night. The Falcons held the Tigers to just 14 first-half points and 21 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, but the game turned in the second half.
Nate Miller and Chris Knight sparked BGSU off the bench in the opening 20 minutes as Miller was 3-for-3 shooting and Knight had four points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal. The Falcons held Savannah State scoreless over the final 5:33 of the opening half and took a 35-14 lead into the break. Nine different players made at least one field goal and Bowling Green held a 22-14 rebounding advantage.
Once the second half started, Savannah State quickly fought back. Jovonni Shuler completed a four-point play that started an early run and the Tigers got back to within single digits on a Shuler three-pointer with 14:36 to go to make it 39-31. Savannah State closed to within two points but Bowling Green seemed to get things going again and extended the lead back to seven.
BGSU led 52-45 on a Miller lay-up with 6:06 remaining but Savannah State scored the next 10 points to take a 55-52 lead with 18 seconds left. Joe Jakubowski drove baseline and was fouled, making both free-throws. With the Falcons employing a full-court press, Jakubowski stole the inbounds pass but was trapped and threw the ball away. The Tigers' Raye Bailey made two free-throws with four seconds left and Darryl Clements' half-court heave at the buzzer was off target.
Knight had his best game of the 2008-09 season, finishing with seven points and 10 rebounds. Miller was the only Falcon in double-figures, posting 12 points and adding four rebounds and three steals.
As a team, BGSU committed a season-high 22 turnovers. Savannah State bounced back to shoot 54 percent in the second half, including 4-of-7 three-pointers, to finish at 39 percent for the game. Bowling Green shot 43 percent and held a 38-32 rebounding advantage.
Savannah State improves to 5-2 on the year, including a 5-0 mark at home. Bowling Green falls to 3-3 with an 0-3 mark on the road. The Falcons will play at Illinois State Saturday at 8:05 p.m.
