Falcons Stifle Huskies In 57-41 Road Win

Wednesday, February 6

DeKalb, IL

8:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

9-13 (4-5MAC)

Northern Illinois

5-16 (3-6MAC)

Bowling Green

Northern Illinois

February 06, 2013 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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

Boxscore
Louis Orr Postgame Audio

DeKalb, Ill. – The Bowling Green men's basketball team held Northern Illinois to 28 percent shooting and the Falcons won on the road for the first time this year, defeating the Huskies 57-41 Wednesday evening.

A'uston Calhoun posted his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, Richaun Holmes scored a career-high 11 points as the Falcons jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

For the second consecutive game, Bowling Green never trailed, scoring the first eight points and holding Northern Illinois to just four made field goals in the first half. Luke Kraus and Calhoun connected on back-to-back three-pointers to start the game and Chauncey Orr's lay-up with 13:33 to play in the first half gave the Falcons a 16-3 lead.

Still leading comfortably at 24-10, the Falcons went on a 6-0 run in which Craig Sealey put down an alley-oop to push the lead to 20 at 30-10. Northern Illinois, though, closed the half with five straight points to get within 15 at the break.

Bowling Green shot 52 percent from the field in the first half and kept Northern Illinois from getting any offense going as the Huskies shot 14 percent.

NIU's Keith Gray opened the second half with a lay-up but Bowling Green put the game away with a 16-2 run over the next five minutes. The Falcons led 46-19 and Northern Illinois never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.

Bowling Green finished the game with 12 turnovers, two fewer than Northern Illinois, but the Huskies held a 38-34 rebounding edge. The Falcons had 10 steals (giving the team 23 over the past two contests), four of which came from Jordon Crawford.

Along with his 11 points, Holmes added three blocked shots, giving him 56 on the season. He is just three away from tying for the BGSU single-season blocked shot record.

Northern Illinois falls to 5-16 on the year and 3-5 in MAC play. Bowling Green, now 9-13 overall and 4-5 in conference play, holds sole possession of sixth place in the league. The Falcons will head on the road to face Ohio, in second place in the MAC, Saturday at 2 p.m.