Falcons’ Winning Streak Snapped at Four in 67-56 Home Loss to Miami

Wednesday, February 18

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

17-7, 9-4MAC

Miami

10-16, 5-8MAC

Miami

Bowling Green

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

Falcons’ Winning Streak Snapped at Four in 67-56 Home Loss to Miami

February 18, 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 | Holmes' #SCTop-10 Nominee Dunk
Video - Postgame Press Conference: Jans, Chris | Clarke, Jehvon
Audio - Postgame Press Conference: Jans, Chris | Clarke, Jehvon
Video: Postgame Radio Interview with Coach Jans
Audio: Postgame Radio Interview with Coach Jans
Audio - Radio Calls from Todd Walker:
Holmes Poster Dunk (Tied, 4-4)
Henderson 3pt basket (BG, 10-8)
Holmes tip-in basket (BG, 19-11)
Clarke 3pt basket beats shot clock (BG, 22-13)
Holmes 3pt basket late in 1st half (BG, 32-29)
Dickerson dunk in 2nd half (BG, 37-31)
Holmes block & Clarke layup (MU, 59-54)
Photos: Photo Gallery (Bianca Garza)

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team had its four-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night in a 67-56 home loss to the Miami RedHawks in MAC play at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.

The Falcons, who had a 33-31 halftime lead, struggled offensively in the second half, shooting just 8-of-25 (32 percent) overall and was 0-of-11 from behind the three-point line over the final 20 minutes of play.

Miami used the free throw line where the RedHawks were 20-of-21 (95.2 percent) for the contest, making six more free throws than the Falcons, to hold off BGSU for the road win.

The loss is only the third loss of the season at home in the Stroh Center for the Falcons who fall to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in the MAC with the defeat. Miami improves to 10-16 overall and 5-8 in league play with the win.

"We only had 12 turnovers, but it seemed like every one of them was like just arrow in the heart. They capitalized on them. We've had some issues with that and we thought we'd corrected it, but obviously we haven't and it is something we got to continue to get better at," commented head coach Chris Jans. "I really liked where we were at (in the first half) when it was like 22-15 or something like that and all of a sudden I felt like we took a bad shot or two that just changed the game, it changed the complexion of the game. At halftime when I was talking to our staff before we talked to the team, I felt like we missed a golden opportunity in that first half and those bad shots led to baskets for them, and obviously we had some poor turnovers as well."

For the second straight game, senior Richaun Holmes reached the 20-point mark, posting 21 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and two steals in 36 minutes of play. The 6-8 forward has now scored in double figures in 13 straight contests and has registered four double-doubles this season.

Behind Holmes was a trio of Falcons in Anthony Henderson, Jehvon Clarke and Zack Denny who all had seven points apiece. Denny also added five rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes of play.

Miami had three players in double digits led by Jaryd Eustace's team-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting off the bench for the RedHawks. Geovonie McKnight finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Will Sullivan added 11 points and six rebounds in the road win.

BGSU's Holmes kept the Falcons in the game early in the contest, as he scored the first seven points for the Orange and Brown, including a thunderous two-handed slam on top of a Miami defender at the 15:52 mark, to put the home team down just one at 8-7 on a three-pointer from the right wing with 12:21 to go in the opening frame.

After four straight points from Henderson pushed the Falcons in front by three at 11-8 with 11:19 on the clock, BGSU would answer three straight points from Miami with an 8-0 run of its own, highlighted by five points from Denny, to fly out to an eight point lead at 19-11 on a tough layup down low by Holmes at the 7:23 mark of the first half.

A layup from Miami's Zack McCormick followed by a three-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock was running out by Clarke gave the home team in white its largest lead of the game at 22-13 with just over six minutes to go before the halftime intermission.

The RedHawks refused to go away, but rather responded with an 11-2 run of their own capped off with back-to-back three-pointers from Eustace and Sullivan to tie the game up for a fourth time at 24-24 with under four minutes to play in the first period.

BGSU would once again pull out in front of Miami by five at 29-24, only to see the three-ball from Miami tie the game up for a fifth time at 29-29 before four points from Holmes and an offensive rebound tip-in basket by MU's Chris Bryant sent the game into the halftime break with the Falcons on top by two at 33-31.

Holmes and the Falcons opened up the second half with a jumper and then saw a fast break two-handed slam from Delvin Dickerson push the home team in front by six at 37-31 less than a minute into the second period.

The Falcons continued to hold off the RedHawks with a layup from Spencer Parker and free throws from Holmes over the next several minutes until a jumper from Clarke at the 13:00 mark gave BGSU a four point lead at 43-39.

The Clarke jumper would be the last field goal for the Falcons for a stretch of over seven minutes, as Miami used an 11-0 surge to run past BGSU and take a seven-point lead at 50-43 with 10:54 to play on a layup from McKnight.

While the field goal drought continued for the Falcons, BGSU got five points from the free throw line from the duo of Henderson and David Joseph to trim the Miami lead to three at 51-48 with just over nine minutes to play in the contest.

However, the Falcons could not buy a basket from the field, as the RedHawks ran off four more points until a runner down the left side of the lane from Joseph banked in off the glass at the 5:55 mark of the second half to end the BGSU field goal drought at just over seven minutes and keep the Falcons within five of the visitors in red at 55-50.

The five points would be as close as the Falcons would get for the remainder of the game, getting to within five at 57-52 and then again at 59-54, before the RedHawks iced the game with two free throws apiece from Sullivan, Eric Washington and McKnight over the final minute of play to pull away for the 67-56 road win.

For the game the Falcons shot just 18-of-50 (36 percent) overall and was just 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) from behind the three-point arc, while Miami was 22-of-52 (42.3 percent) and 3-of-9 (33.3 percent) from long range.

BGSU was outscored by Miami 36-20 in points in the paint, 14-9 in second chance points and 29-15 in bench points. The Falcons held a 9-8 edge in second chance points, despite being out-rebounded 34-32 for the contest.

Bowling Green (17-7, 9-4 MAC) will remain at home to host Buffalo on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m. ET. The contest is game one of a doubleheader with the BGSU women's basketball team who will play at 5 p.m. ET.

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Notes
* The loss drops BGSU to 10-3 overall on the season at home in the Stroh Center.
* BGSU's winning streak was snapped at four games with the loss on Wednesday night.
* Miami has now won four straight games over the Falcons on the hardwood.
* The Falcons fall to 3-4 on the season when scoring less than 60 points in the game.
* BGSU's Richaun Holmes posted his second straight game of 20-plus points with 21 points on the night.
* Richaun Holmes has now scored in double figures in each of the last 13 games for the Falcons.
* With his 21 points and 12 rebounds, Holmes has now recorded four double-doubles this season and 12 for his career at BGSU.
* Holmes' five blocked shots tied his season-high for the fifth time this season.