Falcons Fall On the Road 71-67 in the Battle of I-75

Saturday, January 24

Toledo, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

12-5 (4-2MAC)

Toledo

11-8 (3-3MAC)

Bowling Green

Toledo

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 24, 2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)
Video: Game Highlights
Audio - Postgame Press Conference:
Jans, Chris | Holmes, Richaun
Audio: Postgame Radio Interview with Coach Jans
Audio - Radio Calls by Todd Walker:
Henderson steal & slam (4-3) | Clarke 3pt basket (24-23) |
Gomez and-1 basket (32-31) | Dickerson 3pt basket (47-49) |
Denny 3pt basket (50-49) | Holmes slam (62-64) |

Toledo, Ohio – In a game that saw 17 lead changes and the score tied on six different occasions over the 40 minutes of play, the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team had a trio of players post double digit points, yet it wasn't enough as the Toledo Rockets used the free throw line late to hold off BGSU for a 71-67 win in the Battle of I-75 in front of a crowd of 7,392 people at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio.

The announced attendance of 7,392 is the largest crowd to see a basketball game in Savage Arena since it was renovated in 2008.

The difference in the contest was at the free throw line, where the Rockets were 17-of-25 (68 percent) compared to the Falcons 8-of-16 (50 percent), a point differential of nine points for the game.

BGSU falls to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in MAC play with the road loss, while the Rockets improve to 11-8 overall and 3-3 in league play with the home win.

"It was fun to be a part of a rivalry game. Obviously the outcome wasn't the one we were hoping for. It was a great environment. I thought at the end of the day they played better than we did over the course of 40 minutes," commented head coach Chris Jans. "We couldn't get a key stop and we had some wide open looks that wouldn't go down for us. I thought that they made some big shots coming down the stretch."

Richaun Holmes led the Falcons with 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks despite playing on seven minutes in the first half due to early foul trouble. Junior guard Jovan Austin chipped in with a BGSU career-high 13 points, a game-high five assists and two steals, while off the bench Jehvon Clarke added 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the three-point line.

The Rockets were led by point guard Julius Brown and his game-high 28 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor and 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw line, while Justin Drummond recorded 18 points and nine rebounds in 27 minutes of play. Big man Nathan Boothe added 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks in the win.

The nature of the game started from the opening tip, as the intense contest saw six lead changes and three ties over the first six minutes of play until a three-pointer from Clarke, a fast break layup from Austin and free throw from Delvin Dickerson pushed the Falcons out in front by four at 16-12 with 13:32 to go in the opening half.

Following a 5-0 run by the Rockets to put the home team back in front by one at 17-16 on a three-ball from Stuckey Mosley, the Falcons answered with another three-pointer from Clarke less than a minute later to put the visitors back in front at 19-17 at the 11:03 mark of the first half.

After two more ties and three more lead changes over the next five minutes of play, the Falcons got a free throw from Clarke, a three-pointer from Henderson and a long two-point jumper from Zack Denny over a four minute span to take a three-point lead at 30-27 with 2:45 to go before the halftime break.

Back-to-back jumpers from Brown and Drummond pushed the home team back in the lead just over a minute later, yet BGSU responded by closing the half out on a 4-1 run to take at 34-32 lead into the halftime intermission.

The Rockets came out of the second half with a layup down low from Drummond which kick-started a 9-2 run to give the home team a five-point lead at 41-36 on a three-pointer from Brown at the 16:56 mark of the final half.

The two teams traded baskets and points over the next five minutes of the contest, until back-to-back three-pointers from the top of the key from Dickerson and Denny put the Orange and Brown back in front once more at 50-49 with 10:36 to go in the game.

However, the Falcons would go the next three and a half minutes without a point, as the Rockets ran off eight straight points to take either team's largest lead of the game at 57-50 with 7:30 to go in regulation.

Once a layup from Austin at the 7:07 mark ended the Falcons' scoring lull, BGSU was able to cut the Rockets' lead to two on a three-ball from the top of the key from Holmes with 5:47 left to play.

Yet a free throw from J.D. Weatherspoon and back-to-back baskets from Drummond propelled the Rockets right back out to a seven-point lead with just over four minutes left on the game clock.

Six straight points by way of a 15-foot jumper from Spencer Parker, a free throw from Holmes, a two-handed slam by Holmes off an offensive rebound and a free throw by Austin put the Falcons down just one at 64-63 with a chance to tie the game.

The second free throw rolled out for the Falcons and on the ensuing possession the Rockets scored on a layup from Drummond to push the lead back out to three at 66-63 with 1:41 to play in the contest.

A turnover and a missed three-point attempt over the next two BGSU offensive possessions forced the Falcons to foul as time was running out.

Toledo's Brown would drain 5-of-6 free throws over the final 27 seconds of the contest to help the Rockets hold off the Falcons for the 71-67 home MAC win.

BGSU struggled from behind the three-point line, as the Falcons were just 7-of-25 (28 percent) for the game, but kept the score close by going 19-of-38 (50 percent) on two-point field goals in the contest.

For the game, Bowling Green shot 26-of-63 (41.3 percent), while Toledo was 25-of-56 (44.6 percent) from the floor offensively.

The Falcons, who were out-rebounded 41-39, held an 11-6 lead in second chance points, a 26-24 advantage in points in the paint and outscored the Rockets 31-6 in bench points. However, Toledo outscored the Falcons 15-10 in points off turnovers.

"We got to get better. The league's a grind, we're not even a third of the way through it yet and the games come fast and furious."

BGSU (12-5, 4-2 MAC) will return home to host the Huskies of Northern Illinois on Tuesday night, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Stroh Center.

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Notes
* The Falcons' coaching and support staff wore bow ties on the sidelines as part of the "Tie One On" campaign to help raise money and awareness for cancer research.
* The loss drops BGSU to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in MAC play.
* The crowd of 7,392 in attendance on Saturday night at Savage Arena is the second largest crowd the Falcons have played in front of this season behind the crowd of 12,105 at UD Arena versus Dayton on Dec. 9.
* Richaun Holmes scored in double figures for the 13th time this season and the 41st time in his career.
* Zack Denny hauled in nine rebounds or more for the fifth time this season.
* Jovan Austin scored a BGSU career-high 13 points for the game.
* BGSU is now 2-4 this season in games where the Falcons are out-rebounded by their opponent for the game.
* The Falcons also fall to 1-5 on the season when making less free throws than their opponent for the game.
* BGSU has now dropped four straight contests in the Battle of I-75 on the hardwood.