Five Score in Double Digits, as Falcons Beat CMU 76-74 in Overtime

Wednesday, February 4

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

14-6, 6-3MAC

Central Michigan

15-5, 5-4MAC

OT 1

Bowling Green

Central Michigan

Five Score in Double Digits, as Falcons Beat CMU 76-74 in Overtime

February 04, 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 | Henderson, Anthony | Clarke, Jehvon
Audio: Postgame Radio Interview with Coach Jans
Radio Calls by Todd Walker:
Henderson 3pt basket (9-10) | Dickerson and-1 (14-22)
Denny 3pt basket (21-26) | Clarke 3pt basket (26-28)
Henderson 3pt basket in 2nd half (37-31) | Joseph 3pt basket (40-31)
Dickerson and-1 2nd half (48-43) | Henderson dunk (56-49)
Holmes slam in 2nd half (60-55) | Henderson 3pt to start OT (65-62)
Henderson clutch 3pt basket in OT (72-70)

Mount Pleasant, Michigan – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team had five different players score in double digits, as the Falcons handed Central Michigan their first home loss of the season with a 76-74 overtime win on Wednesday night at McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

With 12.7 seconds to play, senior forward Richaun Holmes calmly knocked down two free throws to tie the game up at 62-62.

On the ensuring CMU offensive possession, Holmes picked up a block on a layup attempt by the Chippewas to deny the home team the winning basket and send the game into overtime.

In the extra frame, the Falcons' senior duo of Anthony Henderson and Jehvon Clarke combined for 12 points, which included a three-pointer from Henderson at the 1:09 mark to give the visitors in Orange a 72-70 lead and a 19-foot jumper from Clarke to break the tie at 72-72 and give BGSU back the lead at 74-72.

After a defensive stop and a CMU foul, BGSU's Zack Denny connected on back-to-back free throw attempts to all but seal the deal for the Falcons. A last second tip-in basket by the Chips as the horn sounded put the final score at 76-74 in favor of BGSU.

"I'm really proud of our guys. I thought they stuck together. It was another game where we had a pretty good lead and couldn't put them away. We talked before the MAC schedule even begun that there was so much parity that we were going to be involved in a bunch of close games, not only us but in the whole league I thought. And we've already been in a bunch of close games and we're just halfway through the schedule," commented head coach Chris Jans. "We could sit here and go over each and every big play, but there was a bunch of them. Richaun Holmes got us to overtime with the block, the rebound and the two free throws. Jehvon Clarke and Anthony Henderson hit some big shots down the stretch and if they don't hit those shots we probably lose the ball game. So I'm really proud of them. It was just a nice, good, overall team win and I'm really proud of them."

The overtime road win pushes the Falcons to 14-6 overall and 6-3 in MAC play. The loss drops CMU to 15-4 overall, 5-4 in the MAC and 12-1 at home this season.

Henderson led the Falcons offensive charge with a season-high 20 points, as he was 8-of-12 shooting overall. Clarke added 18 points and four steals, while Denny recorded 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes of play. Holmes registered 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while off the bench Delvin Dickerson tallied 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Central Michigan's Chris Fowler had a career night, scoring over half of the Chips points with 42 on the night. John Simons contributed with 10 points, while off the bench Josh Kozinski scored eight points.

The Falcons held the nation's fifth leading scoring team to 27-of-66 (40.9 percent) overall and just 6-of-30 (20 percent) from behind the three-point line.

Offensively, the Falcons overcame a season-high 24 turnovers by dishing out 15 assists and shooting 52.8 percent (28-of-53) for the game overall. BGSU was also 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) from behind the three-point arc and 12-of-16 (75 percent) from the charity stripe.

In a first half that saw both teams shoot over 40 percent, the Chips took an 11-point lead at 22-11 by way of a 12-2 run capped off on a layup down low from Simons with 9:49 to play in the opening period.

BGSU crept back into the contest with a three-point play from Dickerson and back-to-back layups from Henderson and Clarke, before a three-pointer from the left corner by Denny jump-started a 10-2 run by the Falcons who tied the score at 28-28 with 1:42 to go before the halftime break.

A layup in the lane by Fowler would end the half with CMU taking a 30-28 halftime lead into the break.

Down two, the Falcons were not fazed by the fact that CMU was 13-0 on the season in games in which they had a halftime lead, but rather came out of the break firing on all cylinders to fly out to a nine-point lead at 40-31 on a 12-1 run highlighted by back-to-back three-balls from Henderson and David Joseph with 16:38 to go in the game.

Fowler single-handedly kept the Chips in the game, as he scored 11 of the home team's next 16 points to trim the BGSU lead to four at 51-74 with 7:09 left on the game clock.

After the Falcons pulled back out in front by seven at 56-49 on a dunk from Henderson and once more at 58-51 on a jumper from Clarke, the Chips used a free throw from Fowler and a three-pointer from Kozinski off a BGSU turnover to get to within three of the Orange and Brown at 58-55 with 3:14 to play.

A two-handed dunk by Holmes a minute later proved to be big for the Falcons, as CMU answered with seven straight points from Fowler to give the Chips' its first lead of the second half at 62-60 on a jumper from Fowler with 34 seconds left in regulation.

With no timeouts, the Falcons got a good look in the paint from Clarke that missed off the mark, only to see Holmes soar into the lane, haul down the rebound and get fouled on the play.

The senior followed with two clutch free throws to tie the game up at 62-62 and then made a huge defensive recovery and block on an Austin Stewart layup attempt for CMU as the final horn sounded.

A Henderson three-pointer opened up the scoring in the overtime period and set the tone for the Falcons throughout the extra five minutes of play, as Henderson got a tip-in off an offensive rebound two minutes later to put the Falcons back out in front by two at 67-65.

Following two CMU free throws to tie the game up once more, Clarke stepped to the line and knocked down two foul shots of his own to put BGSU back in front by two at 69-67 at the 2:11 mark of the extra frame.

Less than 40 seconds later, CMU's Fowler connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Chips up 70-69, but not for long as Henderson drained another trey from the wing to put the Orange and Brown back on top at 72-70 with just over a minute remaining.

Central Michigan again tied the score up at 72-72 on two free throws from Fowler, only to see Clarke answer once again with a long jump shot to give BGSU a 74-72 lead with 43 seconds to play.

A defensive stop and foul sent the Falcons to the free throw line with 22.9 on the game clock, yet BGSU missed both attempts to keep the score at 74-72.

However, the Falcons came up big once more on the defensive end, holding CMU to a contested three-point shot and out, as Denny grabbed the rebound and was fouled where he sank both free throws to all but seal the win for the Falcons before a tip-in basket as the final horn sounded put the final score at 76-74.

BGSU's bench outscored CMU's 30-14 for the game, yet the Chips held an advantage in points in the paint (40-32), points off turnovers (26-9) and second chance points (15-8).

The Falcons (14-6, 6-3 MAC) will remain on the road to take on the Huskies of Northern Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. ET in DeKalb, Illinois. The game can be viewed on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App.

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Notes
* BGSU moves to 14-6 overall and 6-3 in the MAC with the win.
* The six conference wins this season already matches all of the Falcons' MAC wins from a year ago.
* The overtime win is the first OT win for the Falcons since a 73-70 OT win on the road at NIU on Feb. 2, 2011.
* With the win, BGSU improves to 6-0 in games following a loss.
* BGSU had five players score in double figures for the first time since Feb. 15, 2013 – a 67-61 road win at Morehead State.
* The Falcons improved to 5-4 on the road on the season with the win.
* The road win on Wednesday night snapped a two-game road losing streak for the Falcons.
* BGSU improved to 4-1 on the year against the MAC West Division.
* The Falcons shot over 50 percent for the game for the fourth time this season. BGSU is 4-0 in those games.