.png&type=webp)
Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
9-9, 3-2
Ohio
13-5, 3-2
Falcons Tame Bobcats in 58-56 MAC Road Win
January 22, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Box Score (PDF)
Box Score (HTML)
Coach Orr Postgame Audio
Vote for #6thFan
Athens, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team had three players in double figures and held the Ohio Bobcats to only 6-of-22 shooting (27.3 percent) from behind the three-point line to upend the Bobcats 58-56 in the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.
Wednesday night's two-point victory was the first win for BGSU versus Ohio at the Convocation Center since a 52-51 win over the Bobcats back on Jan. 24, 2009.
The win is the Falcons third straight victory, all of which have come in MAC play, and pushes Bowling Green to 9-9 overall and 3-2 in league play. The loss drops Ohio to 13-5 overall and 3-2 in the MAC.
Bowling Green nearly doubled Ohio's points in the paint with a 32-18 advantage, while the Falcons also outscored the Bobcats 25-14 in points off turnovers.
BGSU also had its best performance of the year at the free throw line, as the Falcons were 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) overall for the game.
The Falcons were led by Spencer Parker's game-high 16 points, as he was 4-of-4 from the free throw line, while Jehvon Clarke and Richaun Holmes added 15 and 10 points apiece, respectively, in the win. Holmes, who was also 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, hauled in five rebounds, while fellow big man Cameron Black had seven points, six boards, two blocks and two steals in 31 minutes of play.
Ohio was led offensively by T.J. Hall's 15 points, as he was 5-of-9 from the field overall, while Maurice Ndour chipped in with 12 points and eight boards in the loss. Sharp-shooter Nick Kellogg was held to 10 points on only 3-of-6 shooting for the contest.
The tightly played contest, which saw 10 ties and 12 lead changes, went down to the wire, as BGSU saw its four point lead evaporate on two consecutive driving layups from Hall and Ndour with 5:46 to go in regulation.
After a free throw from Ohio's Stevie Taylor put the Bobcats in front by one at 51-50, Bowling Green picked up a tough runner from Parker down the right side of the lane and a rebound and two-handed slam from Holmes over the next minute to give the Falcons a three point lead at 54-51.
Following the under four minute media timeout, the Bobcats got a layup from Hall to cut the Falcons lead back to one at 54-53 with just over 3:30 to go in the game.
Two straight contested layups from Clarke over a 50 second span put the visitors in orange back in front by five at 58-53 with 1:31 on the game clock.
Ohio picked up a three-pointer from the top of the key from Hall to put the score at 58-56 in favor of the Falcons with just over a minute to go in the game.
After two BGSU timeouts on the next possession and a jump-ball call that went in favor of the Falcons, the Bobcats were forced to foul as BGSU ran off over 40 seconds off the game clock.
With just 18 seconds left in the game, BGSU's Clarke missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to give the Bobcats a chance on the defensive rebound.
Out of its final timeout, the Bobcats' Kellogg fired up a contested three-pointer from 25 feet out which barely made it to the rim where time ran out and BGSU came away with the 58-56 road win.
The Falcons got a quick layup from Anthony Henderson to open up the scoring, as BGSU took an 2-0 lead and then saw a jumper from Parker at the 18:21 mark push the Falcons back out in front by two at 4-2.
However, the Bobcats controlled the pace and flow of the game over the next several minutes, as the home team ran off 13 unanswered points to storm out to a 15-4 lead on a layup from Hall with 13:56 to play in the opening half.
After a drive to the bucket from Parker snapped the Ohio run and cut the Bobcats' lead back to single digits at nine, the BGSU defense buckled down and held the home team in white to only one made free throw over the next four minutes to retake the lead at 18-16 on a three-pointer from the right wing from Clarke with 8:34 on the game clock.
The two teams traded both baskets and the lead on numerous occasions for the remainder of the opening half until the Bobcats broke a 30-30 tie with three free throws from Travis Wilkins to close out the first half and take a 33-30 halftime lead into the break.
Ohio opened up the second half with a basket from Jon Smith to push its lead to five at 35-30, only to see the Falcons get an old-fashion three-point play from Holmes and a layup from the right block from Black to tie the score up at 35-35 with17:08 to play.
Over the next several minutes, BGSU tied the score up twice, yet could not wrestle the lead away from the home team until a layup from Parker jump started a 9-1 run by the Falcons who took a 48-43 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.
BGSU countered an 8-2 run by the Bobcats, who took the lead at 51-50, with an 8-6 edge over the final 5:46 of the game to upend Ohio 58-56.
The two straight wins marks the first time that the Falcons have won on the road at both Western Michigan and Ohio in the same season since the 1990-91 campaign.
Bowling Green (9-9, 3-2 MAC) will return home to host the Miami Redhawks on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 6 p.m. as one of the many BGSU athletic events going on over the Alumni Weekend. The game will be broadcast by the Time Warner Cable Sports Channel. The 2013 MAC Championship Football Team will be recognized during the halftime intermission.
###
