Falcons Open MAC Play With 67-57 Win Over Bobcats

Saturday, January 7

Bowling Green, Ohio

6:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

7-7, 1-0MAC

Ohio

12-3, 0-1MAC

Team	1	2	F
Ohio	27	30	57
Bowling Green	26	41	67

Photo by: BGSU Photography

January 07, 2012 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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

Boxscore (.html)
Torian Oglesby Postgame Audio
Jordon Crawford Postgame Audio
Louis Orr Postgame Audio
Photo Gallery

Bowling Green, Ohio – Torian Oglesby's NCAA record streak of 26 consecutive field goal attempts without a miss came to an end Saturday but his alley-oop throw-down with 1:42 left was the key play in Bowling Green's 67-57 Mid-American Conference men's basketball win over Ohio Saturday. The Falcons moved to 6-1 at home in the brand-new Stroh Center and shook off a sluggish non-conference campaign by defeating the winningest team in the MAC.

Ohio entered the game at 12-2 and had the most impressive non-conference resume in the league entering Saturday's MAC opener. But the Falcons built a 13-point second-half lead and staved off a furious rally to move to 1-0 in conference play.

After Ohio used a 17-4 run to tie the game at 56-56 with just 1:59 to play, Jordon Crawford threw a lob and Oglesby elevated and caught the pass left-handed, bringing the ball down with a thunderous dunk and getting fouled on the play. Oglesby missed the free-throw, but even that turned out to be a positive as Scott Thomas grabbed the offensive rebound and Oglesby eventually scored with 1:24 left to give the Falcons a 60-56 lead.

Bowling Green closed out the final 84 seconds by going 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and holding the Bobcats to just one free-throw the rest of the way.

The Falcons overcame 21 turnovers in the contest by shooting 52 percent from the floor and making 4-of-8 three-pointers. Bowling Green also held a 36-28 rebounding advantage, getting 10 boards from Thomas and nine from Oglesby.

Ohio built an early lead by scoring the first six points of the game but the Falcons answered with 10 straight. The Bobcats used a 9-0 run late to take a 27-21 lead but Dee Brown knocked down a three-pointer and Crawford made a pair of free-throws to cut the deficit to one at the break.

Bowling Green quickly took the lead in the second half but Ohio's D.J. Cooper hit a long three with 12:37 left to cut the Falcons lead to four at 43-39. After Thomas completed a three-point play, Crawford took over with three consecutive lay-ups, two on the fast break, to give Bowling Green a 52-39 lead. That's when Ohio went on its 17-4 run to tie the score before Oglesby's alley-oop.

The Bowling Green defense held Ohio to 38 percent shooting and only 4-of-20 from three-point range. The 57 Bobcat points is the second-lowest offensive total of the year for Ohio, behind only the 54 points that Louisville gave up to the team.

Crawford ended with a game-high 16 points and added five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Brown had 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, while A'uston Calhoun added 12 points. Thomas had his second double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds, his second straight double-digit rebounding game. Oglesby's only two field goals came on the four-point possession that put the Falcons ahead for good and he ended with five points and nine boards.

Ohio falls to 12-3 overall and 0-1 in MAC play with the loss. Bowling Green improves to 7-7 and 1-0 and will host Akron Wednesday night at 7 p.m. That contest is a Buck Night and tickets are only $1. The Zips opened MAC play with a 65-60 win over Miami Saturday night.