Ohio Edges Falcons In Athens

Wednesday, February 23

Athens, Ohio

7:30 pm

Bowling Green State University

Ohio

Photo by: Doug Sampson

February 23, 2011 | Men's Basketball

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

Louis Orr Postgame Audio
Boxscore

Athens, Ohio – Freshman forward Craig Sealey scored a career-high 14 points but the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team lost on the road to Ohio 70-60 Wednesday night in a key Mid-American Conference game.

Sealey made 7-of-8 shots and the Falcons held Ohio, one of the top offensive teams in the league, to just 38.5 percent shooting. But the Bobcats had 18 offensive rebounds and held a 42-25 edge on the boards to overcome Bowling Green's strong defensive effort. Ohio's 17 second-chance points were 11 more than the Falcons' six.

Those offensive rebounds led to more opportunities for Ohio. Although the Bobcats attempted just one more field goal than Bowling Green, Ohio went to the line 18 more times and scored an extra 15 points at the charity stripe.

Tommy Freeman became Ohio's career three-point leader by making 5-of-10 from long range and he finished with a game-high 20 points. No other Bobcat scored more than 10 and dynamic point guard D.J. Cooper had only nine points and four assists in 27 minutes.

Bowling Green, on the other hand, struggled with foul trouble. Leading scorer A'uston Calhoun played just 10 minutes before fouling out and he finished with two points and a rebound. Mike Dabney came off the bench to provide a spark with seven points, two rebounds and a blocked shot but he was limited with foul trouble.

The Falcons battled back from an early double-digit deficit. Ohio jumped out to a 14-4 lead and a Freeman three-pointer with 6:45 left in the first half gave the Bobcats a 28-17 advantage. But the Falcons clamped down and closed the half with a 15-2 run to take a 32-30 lead into the locker room. Dee Brown's 10-foot jumper as time expired gave Bowling Green the lead.

The Falcons led by as many as four points in the second half and held a 47-46 lead after a pair of Dabney free-throws with 8:10 to play. But Freeman made a pair of three-pointers and Bowling Green got no closer than two points the rest of the way.

Dabney completed a three-point play with 6:16 left that made it 54-52 but Reggie Keely scored inside on Ohio's next possession to push the lead to four. Keely then scored on a tip-in and Ivo Baltic added a bucket inside to make it 60-52 and the Falcons were chasing the rest of the way.

Bowling Green shot 47 percent from the floor for the game, including 56 percent in the first half. Jordon Crawford had his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-best 10 assists. Scott Thomas ended with nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Brown had 10 points, making 2-of-3 three-pointers.

Ohio improves to 15-13 overall and 7-6 in MAC play with the win. Bowling Green falls to 12-16 overall and an identical 7-6 in conference action. The Falcons will play at Miami Saturday at 11 a.m. in a game televised on ESPNU.