Ohio Uses Late Run To Push Past Falcons

Wednesday, February 15

Athens, OH

7:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

13-12, 7-5

Ohio

20-6, 8-4

Bowling Green

Ohio

Photo by: Doug Sampson

February 15, 2012 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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

Boxscore (.html)
Louis Orr Postgame Audio

Athens, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team fought back from 12 points down to take a 55-52 lead over Ohio with six minutes remaining in Wednesday evening's Mid-American Conference contest. The Bobcats, though, closed the game with a 20-4 run to post a 72-59 win over the Falcons and snap BGSU's season-long four-game winning streak.

Ohio held Bowling Green to just two free-throws and one field goal over the final six minutes to remain unbeaten at home in MAC play. The Bobcats moved to 20-6 with the win and 8-4 in MAC play, while Bowling Green fell to 13-12 and 7-5 in conference action. Ohio moves into the driver's seat for fourth place in the league and has a stranglehold on the last of the four byes.

Ohio led for most of the game and scored the first 10 points of the second half to take a 38-26 lead with 14:45 to go. The Bobcats still led by 10 at 43-33 before the Falcons began their comeback. Crawford converted a three-point play and then had an open-court steal and lay-up to make it 43-38 with 11:22 to go.

Ohio weathered that storm and led 52-46 before Dee Brown knocked down a three-pointer. After Ohio missed a three-pointer, Reggie Keely was called for a foul and the Ohio bench erupted, resulting in a technical foul. The Falcons converted on all four free-throws to take a 53-52 lead, the first advantage for the team since early in the first half.

After Ohio missed another three-pointer, Craig Sealey scored on a jumper to put Bowling Green up 55-52, but the Bobcats answered with a 9-0 run that put them ahead to stay. D.J. Cooper knocked down a three and then scored on a jumper. After Jon Smith's dunk, Cooper again scored on a lay-up to make it 61-55.

From there, the Falcons were chasing and could not make enough baskets to close the gap. Ohio made just enough free-throws down the stretch for the 72-59 win.

Scott Thomas led Bowling Green with 17 points, 12 in the first half. He also had five rebounds. Brown added 15 points on 3-of-7 three-pointers and Crawford had 11 points, three assists, and three steals. Sealey came off the bench for nine points in 13 minutes of action.

Ohio jumped out to a 10-point first half lead, taking a 24-14 lead on Ivo Baltic's lay-up with 9:34 to go. But Bowling Green held the Bobcats to just four points the rest of the half and cut the deficit to two points at the half, 28-26. Ohio answered with a 10-0 run to start the second half, holding Bowling Green scoreless for five minutes.

Ohio shot 44.6 percent for the game and Bowling Green was held to just 39.6 percent shooting. The Bobcats held a dominant 43-26 edge in rebounds, grabbing 17 on the offensive glass. The Falcons had only 13 turnovers and came up with 10 steals as Ohio turned it over 15 times. Neither team shot well from long range as Ohio was 4-of-17 and BGSU was 4-of-18. The Falcons did make 13-of-14 free-throws.

Bowling Green will head out of conference to host Morehead State Saturday for the team's annual BracketBuster game. That contest will start at 2 p.m. in the Stroh Center.