Falcons Pack Offensive Punch In 82-72 Win Over Austin Peay

Monday, November 21

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:30 pm

Bowling Green State University

2-1

Austin Peay

0-4

Austin Peay

Bowling Green

Photo by: BGSU Photography

November 21, 2011 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by BGSU Athletic Communications

Boxscore (.html)

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team made 8-of-13 three-pointers and the Falcons found a variety of ways to score in an 82-72 victory over Austin Peay on the opening night of the Progressive CBE Classic subregional, held in the Stroh Center.

Along with the team's best long-range display in more than a year, the Falcons battered Austin Peay inside with 40 points in the paint, scored 20 second-chance points, and scored 19 points off of turnovers. Bowling Green's bench added 24 points and freshmen Anthony Henderson and Chauncey Orr both scored their first career points.

Ten different players scored for the Falcons and Bowling Green needed that effort because a subpar defensive performance kept Austin Peay in the game throughout. BGSU entered the game allowing a league-best 55.5 points per game but the Governors shot 51 percent from the field and built an early lead.

Austin Peay used a 9-0 run to take a 16-8 lead just six minutes into the contest but Orr scored his first career points on a three-pointer that helped the Falcons claw back. Torian Oglesby's putback with 11:42 to go make it got Bowling Green within two at 18-16 and the Falcons eventually tied it at 29-29 on Dee Brown's second of three three-pointers in the first half.

Brown's third three-pointer gave Bowling Green a lead it would not relinquish in the first half and Scott Thomas' steal and dunk with two seconds left gave the Falcons a 42-35 halftime lead and momentum heading into the break.

That momentum would be short-lived, however, as the Falcons went almost six minutes without scoring to start the second half and Austin Peay stormed back to take a 43-42 lead. Henderson, though, gave Bowling Green the offensive lift it needed to take control. Tied at 46-46, Henderson knocked down a three-pointer and then he hit another with the score tied at 49-49. The second shot put the Falcons ahead for good.

A'uston Calhoun's three-pointer with 7:14 to play gave Bowling Green a 66-57 lead but Austin Peay scored five in a row to get back within four. The Falcons did have an answer, though, as Calhoun scored on a lay-up and Scott Thomas followed with a lay-up to push the lead back to eight. It never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

The team's 62 percent three-point shooting effort was the best since going 8-for-12 (67 percent) in a loss to Western Michigan in the first round of the MAC Tournament on March 7, 2010. The 82 points is the most for a Bowling Green men's basketball squad since scoring 87 against Valparaiso in the ESPNU BracketBusters event on Feb. 20, 2010.

Calhoun broke out of an early-season slump to finish with a game-high 19 points. He had scored just five total points in BGSU's first two games. Brown added 17 on 3-of-4 three-pointers, while Thomas had 11 points, seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Jordon Crawford handed out seven assists and scored seven points. Oglesby came off the bench to post eight points and six rebounds in only 14 minutes.

Austin Peay, which was picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference, falls to 0-4 with the loss and Bowling Green improves to 2-1. The Falcons will host Detroit, 2-2, Wednesday at 7:30 pm on day two of the Progressive CBE Classic. Detroit lost to George Washington 86-73 in the first game Tuesday. George Washington will meet Austin Peay at 5 pm Wednesday.