Falcons Share the Rock in 64-47 Win Over AAMU

Saturday, December 6

Bowling Green, Ohio

4:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-1

Alabama A&M

1-5

Alabama A&M

Bowling Green

Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications

December 06, 2014 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Bowling Green, Ohio – Led by point guard David Joseph's career-high eight assists, the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team dished out a season-high 19 assists as a team in a 64-47 non-conference win over Alabama A&M on Saturday evening in the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.

The Falcons totaled 25 baskets on the 19 assists and shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the floor overall for the contest. BGSU also was 8-of-10 (80 percent) at the charity stripe.

On the defensive side, Bowling Green held the Bulldogs to 35.4 percent shooting (17-of-48), including holding the visitors to only 18 points on six made field goals in the first half of play.

"The numbers defensively are pretty good. They shot 35 percent. We gave up 47 points and nine offensive rebounds. Anything under 10 I can live with. Certainly we didn't do a good job on Tabb. He had a whale of a game. He is a really good player," commented head coach Chris Jans. "Overall, obviously not looking at the video, it was a good win for us."

The Falcons, who had 10 different players score in the contest, were led by Richaun Holmes' 12 points and seven rebounds, as he was 5-of-6 from the field for the game. Guards Jehvon Clarke and Zack Denny added 11 and 10 points apiece, respectively, while Joseph had eight assists and zero turnovers on the day.

Alabama A&M was led by the sharp shooting of Ladarius Tabb, who connected on five three-pointers on his way to a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. His five treys are tied for the most by an opponent in a single game in the short history of the Stroh Center.

The two teams' swapped baskets and the lead in the opening minutes of play until a three-pointer from redshirt-senior Anthony Henderson from the right wing put the Falcons back in front by two at 8-6 with 16:27 to go in the first half.

With back-to-back buckets from Holmes and Parker, with the latter being a one-handed stuff from the 6-7 forward, the Falcons used a 15-8 run over the next nine minutes to take a nine point lead at 23-14 on five straight points from Denny.

After a jumper from AAMU's Baryn Houston at the 6:42 mark cut the BGSU lead back down to seven at 23-16, Bowling Green held the Bulldogs without a basket over the rest of the half and capped off a 9-2 surge with a three-pointer from the corner from Clarke to give the Orange and Brown a 32-18 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs of AAMU knocked down their first two shots out of the halftime break to cut the BGSU lead to nine at 32-23, only to see the Falcons push their lead back out to 13 at 36-23 on a layup from Joseph and two straight free throws from Holmes at the 18:19 mark.

AAMU would twice cut the Falcons' lead to eight, first at 38-30 and then again at 40-32, however, the home team in white would not let the Bulldogs get any closer, as nine straight points from the Falcons over the next three minutes saw BGSU take its largest lead of the game to that point at 49-32 with 10:43 to play in the contest.

Over the final five minutes of play, the Falcons would get two free throws from both Denny and Jovan Austin, an old-fashion three-point play from Clarke and a layup from the right block from junior Brandon Busuttil to cap off the 62-47 home win.

The Falcons outscored AAMU 32-16 in points in the paint, 28-6 in bench points, 18-2 in fast break points and 14-6 in points off turnovers.

"I think the silver lining in all this – is to be better against the zone, which we were, and to play with a short shot clock, which we had to do because of the nuisance press - I think will benefit us down the road," added Jans.

Bowling Green (5-1) will hit the road for its next contest, as the Falcons will take on the Dayton Flyers on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio.

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Notes
* BGSU improves to 5-1 on the season with the win.
* The Falcons improve to 3-0 in homes game on the season, making them 3-0 at home to start a season for the first time since 2011-12.
* The win gives the Falcons their first-ever win over Alabama A&M (1-0 all-time).
* BGSU's 19 assists for the game was a season-high for the Falcons.
* The nine turnovers for BGSU equals a season-low for the Falcons who also had nine turnovers in the season opener at Drake.
* The 18 points by AAMU in the first half was a season-low points total by an BSGU opponent in a single half of play this season.