CMU Upsets Falcons In Final Seconds Of MAC Tournament Game

Monday, March 5

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

16-15

Central Michigan

11-20

Team	1	2	F
Central Michigan	20	34	54
Bowling Green	26	27	53

Photo by: Doug Sampson

March 05, 2012 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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

Boxscore (.html)
Dee Brown Postgame Audio
Louis Orr Postgame Audio
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Bowling Green, Ohio - Torian Oglesby's attempt to complete a lob with one second remaining bounced off the back rim and the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team saw its season come to a close in a 54-53 loss to Central Michigan Monday night in the first round of the 2012 First Energy MAC Tournament.

Bowling Green led by as many as nine points in the second half but the Falcons went just 4-of-22 shooting to close the game and made only 1-of-11 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes. That drought allowed Central Michigan to lead going down the stretch.

Derek Jackson's three-pointer with 1:47 to play put Central Michigan on top 51-50 and Andre Coimbra scored on a lay-up inside to put the Chippewas ahead by three with 51 seconds left. Jordon Crawford made a pair of free-throws with 39 seconds left.

Both teams came up empty on their next possession and Coimbra made 1-of-2 free-throws with eight seconds left to make it 54-52. Crawford was fouled with 2.7 seconds left and made the front end of the 1-and-1. He missed the second but the Chippewas tipped the ball out of bounds, giving the Falcons one last chance with just 1.0 second on the clock.

Scott Thomas threw the lob to Oglesby from the baseline and his tough attempt hit the iron and bounced back. Oglesby made a second attempt but time had expired.

The loss concluded the careers of three seniors. Dee Brown had a team-high 20 points, while Thomas finished with seven points, nine rebounds and six assists. Oglesby had two points in 13 minutes off the bench.

Bowling Green jumped out to a 9-0 lead and held Central Michigan to 29 percent shooting in the first half. The Falcons built a 26-20 halftime lead and pushed it to a nine-point lead on a Cameron Black lay-up with 16:17 to play that made it 33-24. Central Michigan answered with three-pointers on its next two trips down the floor and an Austin Keel three-ball with 12:25 left saw Bowling Green's lead shrink to three. Finis Craddock and Keel scored on back-to-back possessions to give Central Michigan its first lead of the game at 37-36 with 11:08 to go. From there, the two teams took turns taking the lead until the end.

Bowling Green shot just 35 percent for the game and Central Michigan was 44 percent. The Falcons held a 35-29 rebounding edge and committed only 10 turnovers, two fewer than Central Michigan. Bowling Green held CMU's leading scorer Trey Zeigler to only three points on 1-of-12 shooting. The Chippewas were helped by 8-of-12 shots from three-point range.

Central Michigan improves to 11-20 and will face Toledo in the second round of the MAC Tournament Wednesday. Bowling Green's season comes to a close at 16-15, a two-win improvement over a year ago. The Falcons also went 9-7 in MAC play, a one-win increase, and moved up a spot to sixth in the final league standings.