Falcons Come Up Short On The Road At Akron, 63-58

Saturday, January 22

Akron, Ohio

7:30 pm

Bowling Green State University

Akron

Photo by: Doug Sampson

January 22, 2011 | Men's Basketball

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Boxscore
Louis Orr/Scott Thomas Postgame Audio

Akron, Ohio – The Bowling Green men's basketball team went scoreless for more than five minutes late in the second half Saturday, giving away a four-point lead in a 63-58 loss to Akron in Mid-American Conference action.

The Falcons took a 48-44 lead on a Jordon Crawford jumper with 6:02 to play but Akron held Bowling Green scoreless for the next 5:32. The Zips scored 11 straight, including a pair of back-breaking three-pointers in succession, and made free-throws down the stretch to get a critical conference win.

Bowling Green entered the contest at 3-1 in conference play and tied with Miami atop the MAC East standings. Akron, on the other hand, badly needed the win after scuffling to a 1-3 start in conference. The Zips played like a desperate team early and played with poise late to get the win.

Akron led by as many as 10 in the first half and took a 34-27 lead into the break by shooting 46 percent from the floor and forcing 12 Bowling Green turnovers.

But the Falcons answered back to start the second half by holding the Zips scoreless for more than four minutes. After Akron's Darryl Roberts broke the slump with a three-pointer, Scott Thomas knocked down one of his own to make it 37-36 Akron with 12:20 to play. Crawford then had a steal on Akron's next possession and dished to Thomas for a fast-break dunk to give the Falcons their first lead of the game.

Brett McKnight briefly put Akron back on top with a 10-foot jumper but Thomas scored again on a lay-up to give the Falcons a 40-39 lead. Torian Oglesby and Crawford hooked up for a rim-rattling alley-oop dunk to make it 42-39.

Akron answered back with three points to tie the score before a Dee Brown lay-up made it 46-44 Bowling Green. Crawford's jumper with 6:02 gave the Falcons their largest lead of the game but it was at that point when Akron scored 11 in a row to put the game away.

Thomas had another strong all-around game, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Crawford came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points and added seven assists, four rebounds and four steals. Luke Kraus was the team's only other double-figure scorer with 12 points on 3-of-4 three-pointers, grabbing five rebounds.

Bowling Green was hampered by turnovers throughout, finishing with 20. The Falcons did have a 32-28 rebounding edge but made just 7-of-10 free-throws, exactly half of Akron's 14-of-20 night at the line.

Akron improves to 11-8 overall and 2-3 in MAC play. Bowling Green falls to 8-11 overall and 3-2 in league action and will begin MAC West crossover play. The Falcons will be at rival Toledo Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., televised on Sports Time Ohio.

NOTES
* The loss was Bowling Green's 400th MAC loss all-time. However, the Falcons are still well above .500 with a 446-400 all-time record in conference play.

* Luke Kraus made three three-pointers for the second consecutive game. He is 6-for-7 from long range in the past two contests.

* Joe Jakubowski picked up his 100th career start.