Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
10-12 (4-5MAC)
Toledo
19-3 (7-2MAC)
Valiant Comeback Effort Falls Short in Loss at Toledo on Wednesday Night
February 05, 2014 | Men's Basketball
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Toledo, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University Falcons got 23 points from both Jehvon Clarke and Anthony Henderson, yet saw their valiant comeback effort to overcome a slow start fall short, as Toledo shot 27 more free throws than the Falcons to hold off BGSU for the 83-76 MAC win on Wednesday night at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio.
The Falcons were whistled for 24 fouls for the game, compared to just 11 on the Rockets, as Toledo shot 35 free throws for the game compared to the Falcons eight foul shot attempts.
BGSU was 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) from the free throw line, while the Rockets were 29-of-35 (82.9 percent) from the charity stripe for the game.
The loss drops the Falcons to 10-12 overall and 4-5 in the MAC, while Toledo, who remains unbeaten at home on the year, improves to 19-3 overall and 7-2 in league play.
The Falcons got a career-high 23 points from Clarke, as well as 23 points from Henderson, a Toledo native, who played all 40 minutes of the contest. Spencer Parker chipped in with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Cameron Black hauled in a team-best 10 boards.
The Rockets, who lead the MAC in points per game on the year, had four players in double figures led by Justin Drummond's 22 points, as he was 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Fellow starters Rian Pearson and J.D. Weatherspoon added 16 and 12 points apiece, respectively, while point guard Julius Brown had 10 points in 32 minutes of play.
Bowling Green was plagued by foul trouble all game, as Richaun Holmes picked up two quick fouls and was forced to go to the bench less than three minutes into the game. BGSU had six players with three fouls or more for the contest.
BGSU got to within one score of the Rockets on 11 different occasions in the final 20 minutes of play, yet couldn't get that one stop or that one go ahead basket to overcome a huge 16 point first half deficit.
The Falcons opened up the second half of play on a 7-4 run, highlighted by four points from Clarke, to trim the Rockets' lead to six at 45-39 with 17:55 to go in the game.
Following a Pearson layup by Toledo, the Falcons stayed hot offensively, getting a jumper from Clarke, two free throws from Parker and an fast break layup from Henderson over the next three minutes of play to get to within one basket at 47-45 with just over 15 minutes in regulation.
BGSU got to within two at 50-48 on a three-point from Henderson at the 13:59 mark, then used layups from Black and Clarke to cut the Toledo to one point at 55-54 with 11:30 to go in the contest.
However, Toledo big man Matt Smith hit a key three-pointer on the very next possession to push the home team's lead back out to four at 58-54.
Baskets from Parker and Holmes put BGSU down just two at 58-56 and then 60-58, yet the Rockets were able to use free throws and two three-pointers from Drummond over the next several possessions to stay out in front and push its lead to six at 71-65 with 5:25 to play.
Back-to-back buckets from Henderson again put the Falcons down just one field goal at 71-69 with 3:16 to go; however, a jumper from Drummond less than a minute later again kept the Rocket s out in front by four at 73-69.
Over the final three minutes of the game, Toledo shot 12 free throws, hitting 10 of them down the stretch to hold off the Falcons second half charge and escape with the 83-76 home conference win.
The Falcons got off to sluggish start to open up the contest, as BGSU missed its first six shots and struggled to stop the Rockets out of the gate, as the home team blew out to an early 11-0 lead on back-to-back free throws from Drummond with 15:45 to go before the halftime break.
After a jump shot from Clarke put the Falcons on the scoreboard at the 15:29 mark, the Rockets extended its lead to 16 points at 26-10 on a three-pointer from Jonathan Williams and a layup from Drummond with 9:41 to go in the opening half.
Fouls to Black, JD Tisdale and Josh Gomez put the Falcons with four players with two fouls apiece, as BGSU clawed its way back into the contest with a 10-6 run, highlighted by three slashing layups from Parker, to trim the Toledo lad to 12 at 32-20 on a drive down the right side from Clarke with 6:51 on the scoreboard.
Toledo would go back to the charity stripe and hit two more free throws to push its lead back out to 14 at 34-20, only to see BGSU refuse to give in, as Parker and Black scored on back-to-back layups before Henderson got hot from downtown to hit two three-pointers over a minute span to put the visitors in orange and brown behind by 11 at 41-30 with 1:01 to go before the halftime break.
With time winding down, the Falcons got a layup off a designed inbounds play under the basket, a finger roll layup from Parker, to cut the Toledo lead to single digits at 41-32 at the halftime intermission.
Bowling Green shot 46.4 percent (32-of-69) for the contest, including going 18-of-37 (48.5 percent) in the second half, and held the Rockets of Toledo to only 23-of-62 (37.1 percent) shooting for the game.
The Falcons outscored Toledo 38-30 in points in the paint, 12-4 in fast break points and 12-9 in points off turnovers.
BGSU also dished out 25 assists overall as a team, the second most in a single game this season behind the 29 assists in the season opening win over Earlham.
Bowling Green (10-12, 4-5 MAC) will return home to host the Akron Zips on Sunday, Feb. 9, at 6 p.m. in the Stroh Center.
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