Falcons Blow Out Second Straight MAC Opponent

Saturday, February 4

Bowling Green, Ohio

6:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

11-11, 5-4MAC

Northern Illinois

2-19, 1-8MAC

Northern Illinois

Bowling Green

February 04, 2012 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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

Boxscore (.html)
Scott Thomas Postgame Audio
Louis Orr Postgame Audio
Photo Gallery

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green men's basketball team won by at least 20 points for the second consecutive conference game, blowing out Northern Illinois 65-40 Saturday night in the Stroh Center. The win came on the heels of a 72-48 road win over Western Michigan just three days earlier.

Jordon Crawford had 15 points and six assists, Scott Thomas had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Torian Oglesby came off the bench for six points and seven rebounds as the Falcons put the game away early.

Bowling Green scored the first 10 points of the game, held Northern Illinois without a field goal until more the seven minutes had elapsed, and took a 25-point lead into the break. The Huskies never threatened and were held to just 29 percent shooting, the fourth straight game in which the Falcons held an opponent below 40 percent.

Four different players scored Bowling Green's first four baskets as the Falcons went ahead 10-0. After Northern Illinois split a pair of free-throws, Thomas hit a jumper and a three-pointer, followed by a Dee Brown three-point play to make it 18-1.

Northern Illinois finally made a basket on Aksel Bolin's jumper with 12:16 to go but the Falcons pushed the lead to 20 on two Thomas free-throws, a Torian Oglesby lay-up and a Chauncey Orr free-throw. From there, the Falcons went on a dunking spree for the rest of the period, culminating with an Oglesby alley-oop with just three seconds remaining for a 41-16 halftime lead.

Bowling Green shot 60 percent in the first half and made 3-of-7 three-pointers, but in the second half, the Falcons' offense sputtered. BGSU shot only 31 percent from the floor but kept Northern Illinois at bay by turning the ball over only four times and going to the free-throw line 21 times.

For the game, Bowling Green shot 49 percent from the floor but made only 21-of-34 free-throws (62 percent). The 34 free-throw attempts were the most for the team since attempting 35 in an 83-70 win over Buffalo on Jan. 17, 2008.

Bowling Green rolled to the win despite the team's leading scorer A'uston Calhoun being held without a field goal. He did score five points at the free-throw line and blocked a shot. In all, 13 Falcons saw court time and 11 registered at least eight minutes. The BGSU bench outscored NIU's 19-9.

With the loss, Northern Illinois falls to 2-19 overall and 1-8 in MAC play. Bowling Green improves to 11-11 overall and 5-4 in conference action. The Falcons will look for their first three-game winning streak Wednesday as the team travels to Muncie to face Ball State (12-9, 4-5 MAC) at 7 p.m.