Strong Second Half Lifts Falcons to Fourth Straight Win

Wednesday, December 2

Bowling Green, Ohio

8:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

5-2

UMBC

1-7

UMBC

Bowling Green

Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications

December 03, 2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, BGSU Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Final Stats: Box Score (PDF)
Final Stats: Box Score (HTML)
Video: Postgame Press Conference: Huger | Parker
Audio: Postgame Press Conference: Huger | Parker
Audio: Postgame Interview with Todd Walker: Huger
Video: BGSU Highlights
Radio Calls by Todd Walker "The Voice of the Falcons":
Worrell three-point play (BG, 4-3)
Denny board, Parker lay-in (BG, 19-18)
Block by Parker (UMBC, 30-27)
Denny 3-pt FG to start the second half (UMBC, 33-32)
Gomez lay-in (Tied, 43-43)
Lillard steal & slam (BG, 47-43)
Gomez jumper in the lane (BG, 49-45)
Denny mid-range jumper (BG, 56-49)
Worrell and-1 (BG, 58-52)
Parker breaks the press for an and-1 (BG, 71-64)
Photos: Photo Gallery (Ruben Kappler)
News: The Centennial Season
Schedule: 2015-16 BGSU Men's Basketball Schedule
Tickets: Men's Basketball Season Tickets on Sale Now!

BGSU Highlights

Coach Huger Postgame Press Conference

Parker Postgame Press Conference

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team overcame a four-point halftime deficit to outscore the University of Maryland – Baltimore County 43-31 in the second of play to defeat the Retrievers 72-64 for the Falcons' fourth straight win.

Bowling Green shot 48.4 percent (15-of-31) and held UMBC to just 33.3 percent (8-of-24) shooting over the final 20 minutes of play to pick up the come from behind win at home in the Stroh Center.

BGSU outscored the Retrievers 30-12 in points in the paint, 11-5 in second chance points and 10-2 in fast break points, as UMBC kept the game close with nine made three-pointers over the 40 minute contest.

Senior Spencer Parker led the home team in white with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Fellow starters Wes Alcegaire and Rasheed Worrell finished with 15 and 14 points apiece respectively, while guard Zack Denny hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with eight points. Worrell totaled seven boards, while Parker added six rebounds of his own in the win.

UMBC was led by Joe Sherburne's team-high 19 points on five made three-pointers, while guard Rodney Elliott tallied 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds in 36 minutes of play. Will Darley chipped in with 10 points, while off the bench Ben Grace and Cody Joyce finished with nine and seven points apiece.

The opening minutes of the contest saw both teams come out with easy baskets in the paint, followed by a three-point play from BGSU's Worrell and a trey from UMBC's Sherburne to put the score at 5-5 just two minutes into the contest.

The fast-paced scoring race continued over the next three minutes with a three-pointer from Parker and two straight foul shots from Darley of UMBC to again knot the game up at 12-12 with 15:21 to go in the first half.

Darley's two free throws were the first two points of a 9-0 run by the Retrievers, who ran out to a seven-point lead at 19-12 on a layup down low from Joyce at the 11:21 mark of the opening frame.

BGSU's scoring drought went a total of 6:22 before an Alcegaire layup off an inbounds play ended the famine and jump-started a 9-0 run by the Falcons who flew back in front by two at 21-19 on a trey from Alcegaire with 7:55 to go before the halftime break.

The two teams traded points over the next several minutes, however, it was one BGSU point from the free throw line to three three-pointers and a jump shot from UMBC who retrieved the lead once again at 30-25 at the 4:51 mark on a three-ball from Ben Grace.

Back-to-back free throws from both Josh Gomez and Worrell were the only points over the next 4:50 of the half to put BGSU down just one at 30-29. Still, there was just one second to long on the clock, as Grace drained a three as the halftime horn sounded to give the visitors in black a 33-29 halftime lead.

After giving up seven three-pointers to the Retrievers in the first half, BGSU clamped down defensively in the second half to hold UMBC to just 2-of-11 shooting from long range over the final 20 minutes of play.

Denny opened the second half out with a three-pointer from the left wing to trim the UMBC lead to one at 33-32, before four straight points by the visitors pushed the Retrievers lead back to five at 37-32 with 16:31 to go in the game.

With four points from Worrell, a free throw from Ismail Ali and back-to-back jumpers from Parker and Denny, BGSU chipped away at the UMBC lead over a stretch of three minutes to close the gap to within one-point once again, this time at 42-41, with just over 13 minutes on the game clock.

Just over a minute later, a jump-hook in the lane from Gomez and two free throws from Ali off a technical foul on UMBC, put the Falcons in front for the first time since the opening minutes of the contest.

A steal and two-handed flush by freshman Antwon Lillard less than 30 seconds later gave the home team a four-point lead at 47-43 with 11:37 left in regulation.

Back-and-forth the two teams went, jumper for jumper, until a mid-range jumper from Alcegaire, a free throw from Parker and another 15-footer from Alcegaire pushed the Falcons out in front by seven with less than 10 minutes to play.

Another three-pointer from Sherburne put the Retrievers down four at the 6:01 mark, yet the Falcons used an additional 9-0 run, capped off by a free throw from David Joseph, to extend the BGSU lead to 13 at 66-52.

Turnovers by the Falcons over the last three minutes of the contest allowed UMBC to get within four at 67-63 at the 1:10 mark, only to see clutch free throws from Ali and an old-fashion three-point play from Parker help lead the Orange and Brown to a 72-64 home win.

For the game, the Falcons shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field and 76 percent (19-of-25) from the charity stripe. The Retrievers were 39.2 percent (20-of-51) overall, including going 9-of-27 (33.3 percent) from behind the three-point line.

BGSU controlled the glass, as the Falcons held a 38-28 advantage on the boards, including pulling down 12 offensive rebounds.

The Falcons (5-2) will wrap up their three-game home stand with the Drake Bulldogs on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 4 p.m. inside the Stroh Center.

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Notes

BGSU has now won four straight games, its longest winning streak of the season and matching its longest winning streak in over the last six years (6 games – 2008-09)
Bowling Green is now 3-1 at home in the Stroh Center on the season.
The Falcons are now 1-0 all-time versus the UMBC Retrievers.
With their 72 points, BGSU is now 22-1 all-time in the Stroh Center when scoring 70 points or more.
The Falcons are now 44-24 all time at the Stroh Center (fifth season).
BGSU has now shot 45.5 percent or higher in each game over its current four-game winning streak – (45.6 vs. YSU; 49.2 at FGCU; 55.7 vs. Urbana; 45.5 vs. UMBC)
This is the first win this season in which the Falcons have not scored over 79 points for the game.
With his game-high 20 points, Spencer Parker has scored in double figures in six straight games.
Zack Denny matched his career-high with 11 rebounds, the third time he has done that this season.
Ismail Ali recorded a BGSU career-high four steals in the win on Wednesday night.
Josh Gomez poured in a season-high seven points off the bench for the Falcons in the win.