Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
9-11, 3-4MAC
Eastern Michigan
12-8, 4-3MAC
Falcons Falter on the Road in 69-57 Loss at Eastern Michigan
January 29, 2014 | Men's Basketball
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Ypsilanti, Mich. – Bowling Green State University had three players tally double digit points, yet were out played on the glass by Eastern Michigan, as the Eagles outrebounded the Falcons 45-36 for the game, which included 18 offensive rebounds which in turn led to 25 second chance points in the 69-57 win over BGSU on Wednesday night at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Mich.
The loss, which is the Falcons' first MAC road loss of the year, drops BGSU to 3-4 in league play and 9-11 overall, while with the win, Eastern Michigan earns the regular series season sweep over the Falcons and moves to 12-8 overall and 4-3 in the MAC.
The Eagles had 18 offensive rebounds, 12 of which came in the first half, which led to a double digit points advantage over the Eagles at 25-11 in second chance points for the game.
Eastern Michigan also held a 24-4 edge in points off turnovers, as the Falcons coughed up the ball 17 times, and a 36-22 edge in points in the paint.
BGSU was led by junior Richaun Holmes who had a team-high 20 points to go along with nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Fellow starters Anthony Henderson and Spencer Parker chipped in with 12 and 10 points each, respectively, while senior center Cameron Black hauled in 10 rebounds for the Falcons in the loss.
For Eastern Michigan, Glenn Bryant provided a huge spark off the bench for the Eagles as he scored 21 of his career-high 26 points in the first half, while he also pulled down 10 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. Guard Mike Talley added 12 points, while both Daylen Harrison and Raven Lee totaled 10 points in the win.
Bowling Green opened up the game with a dunk from Holmes to take the lead in the first minute of the game and later saw a three-pointer from the top of the key and another two-handed flush from Holmes over the next three minutes of play put the Falcons on top by two at 7-5 with 15:56 to go in the first half.
Following a fast break layup from Parker out of the media timeout to extend the BGSU lead to four at 9-5, the home standing Eagles got a boost off the bench from Bryant to run off 11 straight points and soar out to a four point lead at 16-9 on a Harrison three-pointer at the 11:09 mark of the opening half.
A third dunk from Holmes in the lane ended the Eagles run, as the Falcons clawed back to cut the Eastern Michigan lead to two at 18-16 on a baseline jumper from Parker with just over 8:30 to go before the halftime break.
The Falcons, however, had no answer for Bryant and the Eagles on the boards, as Eastern continued to add to its lead, pushing it to as much as 13 at 39-26 on a rebound and put back basket from Bryant with less than 30 seconds to go in the half.
BGSU's Henderson connected on a trey from the right wing with time winding down in the opening half to put the first half score at 39-29 in favor of the Eagles at the break.
Holmes hit a second three-pointer for the Falcons to start BGSU off in the second half on a 13-8 run over the Eagles to trim the home team's lead to five at 47-42 on a layup from Jehvon Clarke at the 14 minute mark of the final half.
The Bowling Green spurt was answered with a quick Eastern Michigan flurry of points from Bryant, Harrison and Talley to push the home team back out to a double digit lead at 52-42 with just under nine minutes to go in regulation.
Following a three-pointer from Clarke, which ended a 7:30 minute scoring drought for the orange and brown, BGSU was able to get to within nine points three different times over a two minute stretch until an old-fashion three-point play from Holmes on the right block put the Falcons within eight at 56-48 with 5:54 to go in the game.
A dunk by EMU's Bryant on the next possession put the lead right back into double digits at 10, 58-48, as the Eagles were able to extend its lead to as much as 19 points in the final minutes of the contest on its way to the 69-57 home conference win.
BGSU was outscored 28-2 in points off the bench by the Eagles, with 26 of those points for Eastern Michigan coming from Bryant, and 14-5 in fast break points.
Bowling Green was just 20-of-56 (35.2 percent) from the floor overall and was 8-of-23 (34.8 percent) from behind the three-point line where the Falcons were forced to take shots due to the Eastern Michigan zone.
The Eagles doubled up the Falcons in free throw attempts, as Eastern Michigan was 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) compared to the Bowling Green's 9-of-14 (64.3 percent).
The Falcons finished with a record of 3-5 for the month of January.
Bowling Green (9-11, 3-4 MAC) will return home to host Buffalo on Sunday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. in the Stroh Center.
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