Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
12-16, 6-9MAC
Kent State
15-13, 6-9MAC
Falcons Use Team Effort to Slow Down the Golden Flashes in 73-66 Home Win
February 26, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Box Score (PDF)
Box Score (HTML)
Coach Orr Postgame Audio
Jehvon. Clarke Postgame Audio
Video Highlights
Photo Gallery
Bowling Green, Ohio – Bowling Green State University held the Kent State Golden Flashes to 34.9 percent shooting and only three fast break points in a 73-66 MAC East win at home in the Stroh Center on Wednesday night in which the Falcons never trailed in the entire 40 minute contest.
BGSU held Kent State to eight made field goals (8-of-27) in the first half of play and only 22-of-63 (34.9 percent) shooting for the game, while posting nine blocks in the victory.
Bowling Green improves to 12-16 overall and 6-9 in the MAC with the win, while Kent State falls to 15-13 overall and 6-9 in the league with the loss.
The win also pushes BGSU to 16-0 at home in the Stroh Center when scoring 70 points for the game.
BGSU was led by Jehvon Clarke's game-high 21 points, while the point guard also had eight rebounds and five assists, and Richaun Holmes' 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for his seventh double-double of the season. Senior Cameron Black tied his career-high with five blocks, to go along with nine points and six rebounds, while fellow starter Spencer Parker added 12 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the free throw line.
Off the bench for the Falcons, Damarkeo Lyshe poured in a career-high eight points, while Craig Sealey hauled in six rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
For the Golden Flashes, Devareaux Manley led a trio of players in double digits with 16 points, while Kris Brewer and Mark Henniger finished with 14 and 10 points apiece, respectively.
The Falcons took advantage of its size early in the contest, as Holmes and Black combined for BGSU's first eight points of the game to put the home team up 4-0 early and then 8-5 on a second Black bucket in the paint with 16:50 to go in the opening half.
Kent State tied the score up at 9-9 on two straight free throws from Darren Goodson at the 12:44 mark, only to see the Falcons knock down back-to-back jump shots from Clarke and Holmes to push its lead back out to four at 13-9 with 10:35 to go before the halftime break.
Four straight points from the Golden Flashes tied the score up again at 13-13, yet the Falcons again had an answer, as back-to-back free throws from JD Tisdale and a layup down low from Black put the home team in front by four once more, this time at 17-13.
After a three-pointer from the right wing from Lyshe gave the Falcons its largest lead of the first half at seven at 22-15, the Golden Flashes used a 5-1 run over the next two minutes to cut the BGSU lead to three at 22-19 at the 4:59 mark on a driving layup from Goodson.
The Golden Flashes, who connected on 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) shooting in the first half, got nine of its 26 points from the free throw line over the first 20 minutes of play and got to within three points at 29-26 with less than a minute to go in the first.
BGSU finished the last five minutes of the half with a 9-7 edge in points, capped off by a cutting layup from Lyshe with four seconds to go in the half, to hold on to the lead and take a 31-26 advantage into the halftime break.
The Falcons, who shot 55 percent (11-of-20) overall in the second half of play, picked up where they left off in the first half, scoring nine points over the first 3:38 of the second period to take a 41-30 lead on a layup down low from Holmes.
Kent State's Manley would hit a three-pointer minutes later to cut the Falcons' lead back down to single digits at eight at 41-33, yet BGSU's defense continued to make stops to allow the home team to extend its lead back out to 12 at 46-34 on another Lyshe three-pointer and once more at 48-36 on a Holmes rebound and put back with 12:18 to play in the contest.
Another three-pointer from Manley kick started an 8-0 surge for the Golden Flashes who trimmed the BGSU lead down to four at 48-44 on an old-fashion three-point play from Henniger with just over 10 minutes on the game clock.
After back-to-back layups from Sealey and Clarke pushed the Falcons back out in front by eight at 52-44, the Golden Flashes again refused to go away, this time answering with three free throws and another long three from Manley to get to within three at 53-50 with 5:32 to play.
That would be as close as Kent State would get for the remainder of the contest, as the Falcons answered with a rebound and stick back basket from Parker and then back-to-back transition baskets, including an old-fashion three-point play, to cap off a 7-0 run and take a 10 point lead at 60-50 with 3:19 on the scoreboard.
A Kent State jumper from Brewer did nothing to slow down the BGSU offense, as Clarke followed with two straight free throws before a steal and breakaway two-handed slam from Tisdale at the 2:04 mark brought the crowd to its feet and put the home team in front by 12 at 64-52.
Five straight points from Kent State and three consecutive missed free throws by Bowling Green allowed the Golden Flashes to again climb back into the game, trimming the BGSU lead to seven at 64-57 with 1:21 to go in regulation.
A free throw each from Parker and Clarke over the next two offensive possessions for the Falcons kept the home team out in front, however, Kent State picked up a layup from Henniger and another three-pointer from Manley to get to within four at 66-62 with 45 seconds left in the contest.
Refusing to let the lead slip away, BGSU's Parker and Clarke combined to make 7-of-8 from the free throw line over the final 45 seconds of play to help seal the 73-66 home win.
BGSU shot 46.8 percent (22-of-47) for the game and was 26-of-38 (68.4 percent) from the free throw line in the win.
The 26 made free throws for the Falcons was the second most in a single game this season for BGSU.
The Falcons out-rebounded Kent State 44-31 on the night and held a 32-30 advantage in points in the paint and 11-3 in fast break points.
Bowling Green (12-16, 6-9 MAC) will hit the road to take on the Akron Zips on Saturday night, March 1, at 7 p.m. in Akron, Ohio.
###
