Five Falcons Score in Double Figures in 79-72 Win over YSU

Fort Myers, Fla. – Bowling Green State University had five players score in double figures in a 79-72 win over Youngstown State on Sunday evening in the two teams' second game of the 2015 Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla. The two teams combined to drain 22 three-pointers in the 40 minute contest.

The Falcons shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) overall from the floor, including going 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from behind the three-point line in the win. BGSU also dished out a total of 16 assists in the victory, a season-high for the Falcons.

Defensively, BGSU held Youngstown State to just 36.9 percent (24-of-65) shooting for the night with the Penguins going 14-of-33 (42.4 percent) from long distance.

Florida native Wes Alcegaire led the Falcons' offensive onslaught with a game-high 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from behind the three-point line and seven rebounds. Zack Denny registered his third career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while redshirt-freshman forward Rasheed Worrell finished a perfect 7-of-7 from the field for 15 points, tying his career-high.

BGSU's Ismail Ali came off the bench to score 11 points and dish out a game-high seven assists, while senior Spencer Parker finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes of play.

For Youngstown State, Bobby Hain recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while guards Francisco Santiago and Matt Donlan finished with 13 and 12 points apiece, respectively. The Penguins had seven different players knock down at least one three-pointer for the game.

The trend of the game was set early, as the two teams combined for four made three-pointers in the first four minutes of play as back-to-back treys from Parker and Alcegaire put the Orange and Brown in front by three at 11-8 with 16:38 to go in the opening half.

Over the next eight minutes of play, the Falcons had an answer for every YSU basket, highlighted by dunks from Alcegaire and Worrell, to keep the team in "classic" white jerseys out in front of the Penguins during that span.

A layup down low from Worrell and a driving layup from Alcegaire pushed the Falcons' lead to six at 27-21 with 7:11 to go before the halftime break and started a 14-6 run by BGSU over the next five minutes to take a 10-point lead at 39-29 on another trey from Alcegaire at the 2:48 mark of the first half.

A free throw from YSU's Jordan Andrews would be the lone point for either team over the final 2:48 of the opening half, as the Falcons took a 39-30 lead into the halftime intermission.

Alcegaire and the Falcons picked up where they left off in the second half, as the junior traded three-balls with the Penguins, connecting on two shots from long range over the first two minutes of the second half to keep the Falcons in front by 12 at 45-33.

The Penguins answered the Falcons' three's with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to five at 45-40 on a layup down low from Hain with 13:41 to go in the game.

A Garrett Mayleben free throw halted the YSU run, yet the team in black scored the next three points on an old fashion three-point play from Cameron Morse to get within three of the Falcons at 46-43.

With the lead trimmed to just three, Alcegaire hit a clutch three-pointer from the left wing in front of the BGSU bench to spark new life into the Falcons who then picked up five points from Denny and a layup from Worrell to counter five YSU points and put BGSU in front by eight at 56-48 with 10:47 to go in regulation.

BGSU then got a layup from Parker, in between three-pointers from YSU's Donlan and Santiago, before Worrell picked up back-to-back easy layups to keep the Falcons in front by eight at 62-54 and force a Penguins' timeout just before the under eight minute timeout.

Following the under eight media timeout, BGSU used a tough old-fashion three-point play from Denny and a free throw from Parker to extend the lead back to double digits at 66-56 with 6:14 to play.

After a foul shot from Ali gave the Falcons an 11-point lead at 67-56, the Penguins began launching from long distance, getting three-balls from Donlan and Bret Frantz to cut the BGSU lead back down to five at 67-62 with just over four minutes to go in the contest.

BGSU looked to ice the game from the free throw line, as Ali calmly knocked down two free throws less than 10 seconds later and JD Tisdale went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to put the home team on the scoreboard up by eight at 70-62 with 3:15 to go in regulation.

Layups from Parker and Ali, with Ali's turning into a three-point play, negated five points from YSU to keep the Falcons up by eight as time ticked off the clock.

Huge free throws from Denny and Ali proved to be big down the stretch, as another YSU three-pointer was able to put the Penguins within six in the final seconds, the closest that they would get in the Falcons' 79-72 neutral site win.

YSU held a 12-8 edge in points off turnovers, 10-5 in second chance points and 22-13 in bench points on the night.

The Falcons out-rebounded YSU 47-38 in the win.

Bowling Green (2-2) will take on host FGCU in its third game in three days tomorrow night, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m. in Alico Arena for the final game of the 2015 Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic.

###

Notes

BGSU improve to 2-2 on the season with the win.
The Falcons had five players in double figures for the first time since the 76-74 overtime win at Central Michigan last season on Feb. 4, 2015.
The Falcons' 45.6 field goal percentage (26-of-57) for the game was the highest for BGSU in game this season.
BGSU had a season-high 16 assists as a team in the win on Sunday evening.
BGSU had a season-high 48 rebounds as a team.
The Falcons hit a season-high eight three-pointers in the win over YSU.
Zack Denny registered his third career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Wes Alcegaire had a BGSU career-high 21 points on Sunday.
Wes Alcegaire is the first Falcon to drain five three-pointers in a game since Anthony Henderson did it last season at Buffalo on Mar. 6, 2015.
Rasheed Worrell matched his career-high with 15 points.
Ismail Ali set a new BGSU career-high with 11 points and seven assists.
The Falcons are 2-0 on the season when shooting a better field goal percentage than their opponents from the field overall for the contest.
BGSU is also 2-0 on the year when out-rebounding its opponents for the contest.
Bowling Green is 2-0 on the season when scoring 70 points or more for the game.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Team Stats

Wes Alcegaire

Zack Denny

Rasheed Worrell

Ismail Ali

Players Mentioned

Wes Alcegaire

Ismail Ali

Zack Denny

Anthony Henderson

Garrett Mayleben

Spencer Parker

JD Tisdale

Rasheed Worrell

Players Mentioned

Wes Alcegaire

Ismail Ali

Zack Denny

Anthony Henderson

Garrett Mayleben

Spencer Parker

JD Tisdale

Rasheed Worrell

Upcoming Events

Recent Results