Second Half Drive Thrusts Falcons to a 56-46 Home Win Over NIU

Tuesday, January 27

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

13-5, 5-2MAC

Northern Illinois

8-10, 2-5MAC

Northern Illinois

Bowling Green

Photo by: Craig Bell, BGSU Marketing and Communications

January 27, 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
Video - Postgame Press Conference:
Jans, Chris | Dickerson, Delvin
Audio - Postgame Press Conference:
Jans, Chris | Dickerson, Delvin
Video: Postgame Radio Interview with Coach Jans
Audio: Postgame Radio Interview with Coach Jans
Photos: Photo Gallery (Craig Bell)
Radio Calls by Todd Walker:
Holmes dunk to start game (2-0) |
Henderson 3pt basket (9-5) |
Holmes slam in first half (19-19) |
Henderson jumper end of 1st half (21-20) |
Denny 3pt basket in second half (29-22) |
Denny hist third 3pt basket (35-26) |
Dickerson 3pt basket off back rim and in (41-39) |
Holmes and-1 basket (44-39) |

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team used a second half energy drive that contributed to the Falcons outscoring Northern Illinois 35-26 over the final 20 minutes of play and saw a 16-2 run late in the contest propel the Falcons to a 56-46 home win over the Huskies on Tuesday night in the Stroh Center.

BGSU held the Huskies to only 10-of-27 (37 percent) shooting in the second half, including 2-of-8 (25 percent) from behind the three-point line, while the Falcons shot 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) and 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) from long range over the final 20 minutes of play to pull away with the 10-point win.

BGSU moves to 13-5 overall and 5-2 in MAC play with their ninth home win of the season. The loss drops NIU to 8-10 overall and 2-5 in the MAC.

The 13 wins surpass the Falcons win total of all of last season.

"You know we expected a physical battle. That's what they hang their hat on – toughness, defense, rebounding – and it certainly lived up to that. That first half was a grind – 21-20. When we did get a good look we couldn't knock it down. When we did get to the free throw line we couldn't make any. I talk about shooting being contagious a lot of times, but it also is contagious in a negative way as well. It just seemed like the lid was on the basket and we couldn't put the ball through the hole," commented head coach Chris Jans. "But we kept our defensive intensity throughout the first half and then in the second half we just talked about, we felt like our best offense was going to be getting stops and running. Getting the ball up the floor and scoring before they could get their defense set."

A trio of players scored in double figures for the Falcons led by senior Richaun Holmes' 18 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Zack Denny added 13 points, five rebounds and three steals, while fellow guard Anthony Henderson totaled 11 points and six rebounds. Off the bench, Delvin Dickerson chipped in with eight points, on 3-of-4 shooting, and took a team-high four offensive charges on the Falcons' defensive end in the win.

The Huskies were led by Aaron Armstead's 12 points, on 4-of-7 shooting, while Anthony Johnson added eight points on the night. Seven other Huskies scored at least two points in the loss.

BGSU opened the game up with a two-handed slam from Holmes just under 40 seconds into the contest and jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a second basket from Holmes at the 18:47 mark of the opening half.

However, the Huskies answered with five quick points to take its first lead of the game at 5-4 on a layup from Michael Orris with 17:02 to go in the first half.

After the Falcons retook the lead on a drive and layup by Denny less than a minute later, BGSU held a slight lead over the visiting Huskies for the next several minutes of play until back-to-back buckets from Holmes and Spencer Parker put the home team in front by five at 17-12 with 7:45 to go before the halftime break.

The Parker layup would be the Orange and Brown's last basket for almost six minutes, as the Falcons went ice cold from the field offensively which allowed NIU to use a 7-0 run to retake the lead at 19-17 on a layup from the right block by Jordan Threloff at the 4:29 mark.

A fast break one-handed slam by Holmes overtop of a NIU defender at the 1:48 mark ended the Falcons' scoring drought and tied the contest up at 19-19.

A free throw by NIU and a 14-foot jumper by BGSU's Henderson as the first half horn sounded put the home team in front by one at 21-20 heading into the halftime break.

The Falcons started the second half the way the first half ended with a basket from Henderson, this time a three-ball from the left wing to put BGSU in front by four at 24-20.

The home team continued to use the three-point line to run out to a nine-point lead at 35-26 on a third three-pointer from Denny over the first seven minutes of the second half, as NIU was forced to call a timeout with 12:55 to go in regulation.

An 8-0 run by the Huskies out of the timeout trimmed the Falcons' lead back down to one at 35-34; while just over a minute later a three-pointer by Armstead put the visitors in red and black back in front by two at 39-37 with 9:03 left to play.

The Falcons refused to fold, as a three-pointer from Dickerson at the top of the key that hit the back rim, went straight up in the air and fell through the net, not only put the Orange and Brown back in front by one at 40-39, but more importantly ignited the BGSU offense who went on a 16-2 run over the next six and a half minutes to give the Falcons a 53-41 lead on back-to-back free throws from Henderson with 2:27 on the game clock.

Four quick points from Armstead and Johnson of NIU put the Huskies within eight at 53-45, however, the Falcons used two free throws from Jovan Austin and one more from Henderson in the closing minute to help seal the 56-46 home conference win.

BGSU out-rebounded NIU 32-31 on the night, however, the Huskies held a scoring advantage in points in the paint (30-26), points off turnovers (13-12) and bench points (26-12).

For the game, the Falcons shot 21-of-49 (42.9 percent) overall and 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from the three-point line. NIU was just 17-of-47 (36.2 percent) from the field and just 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) from long range for the game.

The Falcons (13-5, 5-2 MAC) will remain at home to host the Akron Zips on Saturday night, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. BGSU fell to the Zips at Akron, 67-50, back on Jan. 14.

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Notes
* With the win, the Falcons increase its overall win total to 13, surpassing the win total of all of last season.
* BGSU moves to 9-1 overall at home in the Stroh Center this season with the victory.
* Bowling Green improves to 5-0 this season in games following a loss.
* The win pushes BGSU's current home winning streak to five straight games.
* With the win, the Falcons snap a two-game losing streak to the NIU Huskies having dropped both contests between the two schools last year.
* With his 18 points, Richaun Holmes has now scored in double digits in each of the last seven games.
* The Falcons, who held NIU to just 36.2 percent shooting for the game, improve to 9-1 overall on the season when holding its opponents to less than 40 percent shooting for the contest.
* With BGSU's seven made three-pointers on Tuesday night, the Falcons have made seven three-point field goals or more in each of the last three games and in a total of eight games overall on the season.