Falcons Rally Past Rival Toledo To Extend Winning Streak

Saturday, February 11

Bowling Green, Ohio

4:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

13-11, 7-4MAC

Toledo

11-14, 3-8MAC

Toledo

Bowling Green

February 11, 2012 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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

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Scott Thomas Postgame Audio
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Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green men's basketball team overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to extend its winning streak to four games with a 66-63 victory over rival Toledo Saturday afternoon in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 4,421.

Scott Thomas scored 21 points, 15 in the second half, and A'uston Calhoun had his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Dee Brown had all 11 of his points in the final 20 minutes as the Falcon upperclassmen made sure Bowling Green would win its fourth in a row over its rival.

In fact, it was the seniors who made big plays down the stretch to be sure their final regular season game against the Rockets would be a win. Thomas and Brown combined to make four three-pointers in the final 14 minutes to help Bowling Green come from behind, while senior Torian Oglesby came off the bench to provide eight rebounds, three on the offensive glass.

Rian Pearson, the Mid-American Conference's leading scorer, knocked down a jumper with 16:20 to play that closed a 10-4 run to start the second half and gave Toledo a 39-26 lead. But the Falcons began to pressure with a full-court zone trap that flustered the Rockets.

Crawford made a free-throw and then had a steal on Toledo's next possession that Thomas converted into a lay-up to make it 39-29. The Rockets then failed to cross halfcourt on its next possession and Calhoun scored inside to bring the deficit back to single-digits.

Toledo still led 44-35 when Thomas connected on the Falcons' first three-pointer of the game with 13:19 to play. Brown made a three on the team's next possession and then Oglesby had a dunk with 12:20 left to make it a one-point game.

Toledo pushed the lead back to five but Brown made his second three-pointer and Calhoun's tip dunk with 6:54 to play tied the game, brought the crowd to its feet, and energized the Falcons. Neither team, though, was able to score for almost three minutes until Toledo's Curtis Dennis hit a big three that gave the Rockets the lead again.

On the next possession, Thomas answered with his second three-pointer of the game. With the score tied at 57-57 after a pair of Brown free-throws, the Falcons forced a missed shot and Thomas came off a curl to find a wide open lane. He drove to the hoop, scored on a lay-up and was foul. His ensuing free-throw gave BGSU a 60-57 lead with 2:13 to go.

After Toledo used a timeout, Crawford stole a cross-court pass and scored going the other way to put Bowling Green back up five. But the Rockets weren't quite done.

Dennis made his fourth three-pointer to cut the deficit to two with 1:14 to go but Calhoun scored on a tip-in with 37 seconds left to give the Falcons a 64-60 lead. After Toledo's Julius Brown missed on a three, Brown went to the line and made a free-throw with 16 seconds left. He missed the second, but Crawford came up with a steal and connected on a final free-throw to ice the game. Toledo made a three-pointer with six seconds left, but it was not enough.

Thomas scored his 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, adding six rebounds (five on the offensive glass), and four steals while playing all 40 minutes. Calhoun was 10-of-18 shooting and had seven of his 12 rebounds on the offensive side. As a team, Bowling Green had 21 offensive rebounds and held a 40-27 edge on the boards. With a lot of putbacks, the Falcons had a 21-10 advantage on second-chance points and led 40-16 in points in the paint.

Bowling Green won the game despite making just 6-of-20 free-throws and watching Toledo made 12-of-19 three-pointers. The Falcons forced 18 turnovers, picking up 12 steals, four from both Thomas and Crawford.

The announced attendance represents the largest crowd of the Stroh Center era as the Falcons won their fourth consecutive team to move into a tie for fourth in the Mid-American Conference. It was the largest home crowd since 4,708 fans packed into Anderson Arena to watch Bowling Green and Toledo battle on Jan. 22, 2005.

Toledo falls to 11-14 overall and 3-8 in MAC play. Bowling Green improves to 13-11 overall and 7-4 in MAC action. The Falcons are tied with Ohio for fourth place in the league and the top four earn byes to at least the quarterfinals in the MAC Tournament. Those two teams will face off Wednesday in Ohio's Convocation Center at 7 p.m. Bowling Green won the first meeting, defeating the Bobcats 67-57 in the Stroh Center.