Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
10-14, 4-7MAC
Kent State
13-11, 4-7MAC
Last Second Three Sinks Falcons in 62-61 Loss at Kent State
February 12, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Box Score (PDF)
Box Score (HTML)
Coach Orr and Black Postgame Audio
Kent, Ohio – Bowling Green State University senior Cameron Black scored a career-high 18 points in his final homecoming at Kent State, yet the Golden Flashes used a three-pointer from Devareaux Manley with less than a second left to sink the Falcons 62-61 on Wednesday night in the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio.
Sophomore forward Spencer Parker calmly hit two free throws with just over eight seconds to go in the game to give the Falcons a 61-59 lead.
With no timeouts, Kent State brought the ball up the court and attempted to drive down the right baseline. Kris Brewer then floated a one-handed runner towards the basket with time winding down, but had it blocked in mid-air by BGSU's Black to send the ball loose under the Golden Flashes basket and then eventually out of bounds off a Falcon player with just over three seconds remaining.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Brewer found a slicing Manley in the near corner who fired up a three-pointer while fading out of bounds that went through the net with 0.9 seconds to go in the game giving the Golden Flashes the 62-61 win.
The loss drops BGSU to 10-14 overall and 4-7 in the MAC, while with the win Kent State improves to 13-11 overall and 4-7 in league play.
Black, a Kent, Ohio native, had a career-high 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots, while guard Jehvon Clarke added 18 points and six assists in 40 minutes of play. Fellow backcourt mate Anthony Henderson had 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals, as the Falcons led for the majority of the contest.
Kent State was led by Derek Jackson who had a game-high 25 points off the bench for the home team. Jackson, who played 34 minutes, was 8-of-11 from the floor overall and 5-of-7 from behind the three-point line. Manley, who also came in off the bench, had 14 points for Kent State in the win.
BGSU added to its 35-27 halftime lead with five quick points from Parker and Black to start the second half and give the Falcons a 13 point lead, for the second time in the game, at 40-27 with 18:56 to go in the contest.
The Golden Flashes answered with a double digit run, pouring in 12 straight points, six of which were on offensive rebounds, over the next three minutes to trim the BGSU lead back down to one at 40-39 with 15:20 to play.
Kent State cut the Bowling Green lead to one four more times over the next nine minutes of play, yet the Falcons managed an answer each time to stay in front during that span, including seeing a layup from Black at the 5:44 mark give BGSU a three point lead at 53-50.
After a Clarke three-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock expired minutes later extended the Falcons lead to five at 56-51, the Golden Flashes again responded with a surge of their own, rattling off seven straight points to take its first lead of the second half at 57-56 with 3:15 to go in the game.
The two teams' then traded baskets and the lead over the next minute until a free throw from Clarke tied the game up at 59-59 with 1:57 on the game clock.
The next two possessions saw the Falcons force a Kent State turnover and then a BGSU miss on a go-ahead jump shot to give the Golden Flashes the ball with less than a minute to play.
Following a Kent State timeout, BGSU forced Darren Goodson to take a jump shot, only to see the home team come away with the offensive rebound and another chance to take the lead.
After a second Kent State timeout, Manley missed a three-pointer from the left corner and then immediately fouled Parker going for the rebound.
Parker hit the front end of the 1-and-1 to put BGSU up 60-59, then after a Falcon timeout, he drained the second free throw to give the visitors a 61-59 lead with just over eight seconds in regulation.
The eight seconds proved to be one second too much, as Manley's three fell thru the basket with 0.9 seconds left on the game clock.
BGSU's last second inbounds full court heave was knocked away, as Kent State slipped by with the 62-61 win.
The Falcons flew out of the gate to start the contest, as the visitors in orange and brown ran out to a 13-0 lead highlighted by three straight buckets in the paint from Black with 16:17 to go in the first half.
Kent State's Jackson would hit a three-pointer at the 14:59 mark to get the Golden Flashes on the scoreboard. The three-ball got the home team going offensively, as Kent State went on a 15-7 run over the next four minutes of play to cut the BGSU lead to five at 20-15 on another three-pointer from Jackson with just over 11 minutes to go before the halftime break.
BGSU responded with a fast break alley-oop from Clarke to junior Richaun Holmes to push the Falcons lead back to seven at 22-15. However, Kent State took advantage of the Falcons' turnovers and used an 8-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers, to take its first lead of the game at 23-22 with 8:15 to play on the first half game clock.
Following a Bowling Green timeout, the Falcons protected the ball better offensively and picked up the intensity on the defensive end to finish the half out on a 13-4 scoring edge with baskets from Holmes, Black, Henderson and Clarke to take an eight point lead at 35-27 into the halftime break.
The Falcons outscored the Golden Flashes 34-26 in points in the paint; however, Kent State held a decisive 45-2 advantage in bench points and 16-8 in second chance points for the game.
The Golden Flashes used the long distance shot all night to stay close to the Falcons, as Kent State was 9-of-22 (40.9) percent from behind the three-point line for the game.
In fact, BGSU held Kent State to only 39.7 percent shooting (23-of-58) for the game as a whole, while the Falcons, who shot 15-of-26 (57.7 percent) in the first half, were only 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) in the second half and thus 25-of-54 (46.3 percent) for the game.
The loss is the third straight for the Falcons, all by a combined 10 points, with the last two losses coming on a final shot in the closing seconds of the game.
Bowling Green (10-14, 4-7 MAC) will stay on the road to face off with Ball State on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 4 p.m. in Muncie, Ind.
###
