Falcons Outlast Buffalo In Double Overtime, 74-71

Saturday, January 8

Buffalo, N.Y.

7 pm

Bowling Green State University

Buffalo

January 08, 2011 | Men's Basketball

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

Boxscore
Louis Orr/A'uston Calhoun Postgame Audio

Bowling Green, Ohio – It seems as if every time Bowling Green and Buffalo meet, wildness ensues. In the latest crazy game in the series, the BGSU men's basketball team defeated Buffalo 74-71 in double overtime Saturday night.

The win was the Falcons' fourth in a row and second consecutive road win. It was also the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.

Bowling Green shot over 50 percent from the floor for the fourth consecutive game, finishing at 51.7 percent. Buffalo, which entered the game as the MAC's best shooting team, finished at just 39.4 percent and that included a strong 57.7 percent in the first half. Over the final 30 minutes, Buffalo made just 13-of-45 (28.9 percent) shots.

If not for a poor night at the free-throw line, Bowling Green went 11-of-24, the Falcons might have put Buffalo away in regulation. But BGSU continued to battle and the Bulls had to score late at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime just to force extra sessions.

Buffalo led by as many as eight points in the first half and took a 36-30 lead into the break but Bowling Green went on a 10-2 run to open the second half to go on top. The two teams traded the lead back-and-forth for much of the rest of regulation but Jordon Crawford scored on a scoop lay-up with 1:24 left to put the Falcons on top 59-56.

Javon McCrea scored inside with 41 seconds left to cut the deficit to one and Luke Kraus made 1-of-2 free-throws to put Bowling Green up by two. Jawaan Alston was fouled with three seconds left and he made both charity shots to send the game to overtime.

In the first overtime session, A'uston Calhoun completed a three-point play that gave the Falcons the lead. Bowling Green's lead was pushed to four on a Cameron Black lay-up but Buffalo rallied and tied the game on a Mitchell Watt lay-up with two seconds to go that sent the game to a second extra frame.

The second overtime was a helter-skelter affair and Byron Mulkey knocked down a jumper with 3:54 to play to give Buffalo a 71-69 lead. Luke Kraus had a steal and lay-up to tie it at 71-71 with 2:35 to play and it would remain that way until Danny McElroy powered one home inside with 24 seconds left to make it 73-71 Bowling Green.

Buffalo worked for a shot to tie the game but Watt missed from point blank range and Scott Thomas grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made 1-of-2 free-throws with four seconds left and Mulkey's prayer was not answered for Buffalo to end the game.

Calhoun ended with a game-high 20 points and came up one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards. Thomas had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, making 8-of-12 shots. He added three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. McElroy had a strong game inside with 13 points. Black finished with seven points and a career-best 11 rebounds.

Buffalo entered the game as the top rebounding team in the MAC but Bowling Green controlled the boards 46-37. The Falcons also dominated in the paint with a 50-34 scoring advantage and had 11 steals.

Buffalo falls to 8-5 on the year and 0-1 in MAC play. Bowling Green is now 6-9 overall and 1-0 in league action. The Falcons will play at Kent State Tuesday night at 7 p.m. looking to remain unbeaten in conference play.

NOTES
* Bowling Green opened MAC play with a win on the road for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

* The Falcons overcame a halftime deficit for the first time this year. Prior to Saturday evening, Bowling Green was 0-7 on the season when trailing at the break.

* BGSU improved to 5-0 on the year when shooting 50 percent from the field. The Falcons have done that five times in the past six contests.

* The win was Bowling Green's first this year in games decided by five points or less. It was also the first time the team won a game in which it had more turnovers than the opponent.

* Scott Thomas had his third double-double of the season and sixth of his career.

* The team's 50 points in the paint were the most in a game all year.

* The Falcons' eight-point first half deficit was the largest the team has overcome all year to get a win.

* This marked Bowling Green's first double overtime game since losing to Ohio 93-90 on Feb. 4, 2006.

* Luke Kraus had a key blocked shot late in the first overtime. It was the first blocked shot of his career.