EMU Tops Falcons, 73-67, in MAC Tournament Second Round

Wednesday, March 11

Cleveland, Ohio

6:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

20-11

Eastern Michigan (Second Round)

21-12

Eastern Michigan

Bowling Green

Richaun Holmes was 6-of-7 from the field en route to 18 points on Wednesday night

Photo by: Kara Fallon

March 11, 2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Holmes, Clarke score 18 points apiece for CIT-bound BGSU

By: CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team shot better than 53 percent from the field, but Eastern Michigan University grabbed 18 offensive rebounds en route to a 73-67 win over the Falcons Wednesday night (March 11). The game, a second-round contest in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, was held at Quicken Loans Arena.

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FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
VIDEO: Game Highlights
VIDEO: Holmes, Clarke & Jans
AUDIO: Holmes, Clarke & Jans
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos by Kara Fallon
POSTSEASON: CIT Information

Seniors Richaun Holmes and Jehvon Clarke scored 18 points apiece for the Falcons (20-11), who have accepted a bid to play in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Sophomore Zack Denny joined that duo in double figures in the scoring column, with 13 points on Wednesday night.

Holmes, who missed Monday's (March 9) first-round win over Ball State at the Stroh Center, made 6-of-7 shots from the field and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line vs. the Eagles. Clarke's 7-of-11 field-goal performance on Wednesday included three three-pointers in five long-distance attempts.

The Eagles (21-12) got a game-high 27 points from Raven Lee and 21 from Mike Talley. The two guards combined to go just 14-of-37 from the field, but the Eagles had 18 offensive rebounds and a 20-5 advantage in second-chance points in the game. EMU also forced BGSU into 15 turnovers and enjoyed a 23-11 margin in points off turnovers.

"Losing your last game is always tough. I haven't been doing this long enough to properly help our guys in the locker room. I certainly feel bad for everybody, but I told them in there that we just didn't play well enough to win, and that's not what they want to hear but that's the reality of it," commented head coach Chris Jans. "I thanked the returnees and the seniors especially for their receptiveness to me and my staff's new ideas and approach. They didn't sign up to play for us, but boy, did they give us a chance to be successful in our first year. I told them I would always remember them for that because it didn't have to be that way, it could have been much worse. Because of their character, their want to win, it says a lot about them and who they are as people."

Holmes scored the Falcons' first seven points of the game, banking home a turnaround jumper on the Falcons' second possession to open the game's scoring. On EMU's next possession, Holmes swatted a shot into the BGSU pep band, but the Eagles scored off of the ensuing inbounds pass. Lee, who hit that bucket, knocked down a three-point try to give Eastern a 5-2 lead. The Eagles went 9-of-22 from three-point land on the night.

But, junior David Joseph tracked down the ball after a near turnover at midcourt, took a few dribbles and lobbed a pass to Holmes, charging in from the right side of the hoop for an 'and-one' dunk. Holmes hit the ensuing free throw, tying the game at 5-5. Talley answered with a three-pointer, but Holmes hit a layup, and a banker by Clarke, after a nifty shot-fake, gave the Falcons a 9-8 lead.

Talley, however, knocked down another three-pointer, and a layup by Lee gave the Eagles a four-point lead. Clarke found redshirt junior Josh Gomez for a jumper from the right side, and Clarke then split a pair of free throws out of the game's first media timeout. When junior Jovan Austin's layup in traffic went off the glass and through the hoop, the Falcons had a 14-13 lead with 13:41 left in the period.

Lee, however, answered with a three-pointer, and Talley hit two free throws to give EMU a four-point lead. BG tied the game at the line, with both Holmes and Denny knocking down a pair of shots, but Lee's three-point play gave the Eagles the lead once again. Lee (13) and Talley (8) combined for all of the Eagles' first 21 points.

Joseph, though, found an open Denny in the left corner, and Denny's three-pointer tied the game once again. After EMU's Olalekan Ajayi missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, Joseph lobbed the ball to Holmes for an emphatic dunk and a four-point lead. Then, Clarke banked home a right-side runner, and the Falcons had a 27-21 lead as the Eagles used a timeout with 8:26 left in the half.

Back came Eastern, as Karrington Ward got a runner to drop, and Brandon Nazione's steal and dunk cut the Falcons' lead to two. When Talley hit a layup at the 7:06 mark, the game was tied for the fifth time. The Eagles' run reached 9-0 as Ward rattled home a three.

Junior Spencer Parker snapped that run, scoring inside after a nifty bounce pass from Clarke, and after Austin drove and kicked the ball out to Holmes, the senior knocked down a three-pointer for a 32-30 Falcon lead. Holmes scored 16 of BG's first 32 points.

The Eagles answered with a layup, but Clarke drilled a triple try of his own. Back-to-back baskets by Eastern, however, gave the Green and White a 36-35 lead with two minutes left in the period. Austin made a pair of free throws, but two Lee free throws were followed by a putback by Ajayi with just 10 seconds left in the half. Denny, however, hit a right-side jumper just before the end of the period, cutting EMU's lead to 40-39 at the break.

The Falcons shot 56.5% in the first period, making 13-of-23 shots from the field. The Eagles, however, had an 18-12 advantage on the boards in the opening 20 minutes.

Holmes began the second half with a foul-line jumper, and after the Eagles scored the next four points, Clarke's layup cut Eastern's lead to 44-43. A Lee layup was answered by a long two-pointer from Denny, but Ward hit back-to-back triples for the Eagles. Clarke, though, answered with a long-range make each time, but Talley's trey gave Eastern a 55-51 lead with 11:19 to go.

Denny's acrobatic save of a teammate's errant pass kept a BG possession alive, and after a Denny shot did not drop, junior Delvin Dickerson corralled the rebound and converted a layup as part of a three-point play. Dickerson's free throw cut the EMU lead to a single point, and after the Falcons forced a shot-clock violation, Dickerson drained a corner three with a defender's hand in his face. The Falcons led, 57-55, with just under 10 minutes to go.

Eastern missed a jumper, and Clarke's floater bounced around the rim and dropped through the hoop, giving BG a 59-55 lead.

The Eagles scored the next four points, with Ward's offensive rebound and layup knotting the score, but Denny's silky-smooth short-corner jumpber gave the Brown and Orange the lead with under eight minutes to go. Lee countered with a three-point play, but Denny hit another smooth jumper, this time from the left side, and the Falcons had a 63-62 lead.

The Eagles scored inside again, though, and a Lee three-pointer gave Eastern a 67-63 lead with six minutes on the clock.

Parker answered with a nifty offensive rebound and layup in traffic, and senior Anthony Henderson's long two-point try hit the rim, bounced up and dropped through the net to tie the game at 62-all. Lee, though, got to the line and made a pair of shots, and two Talley tosses with 2:43 on the clock gave Eastern a 71-67 lead. A BG jumper was no good, but after the Falcons got a stop, a turnover with just under a minute to go gave the ball right back to Eastern. The Eagles used most of the shot clock on the ensuing possession, and after missing a shot, Ajayi came up with an offensive rebound, was fouled and split a pair of shots from the stripe. Ajayi would hit another free throw in the final seconds to close the scoring.

The Eagles had a 35-27 advantage on the glass. Three Falcons had five boards apiece, and Joseph had five assists to tie for game honors as the Falcons had 15 helpers on 25 buckets.

The Falcons, as mentioned, have accepted a bid to participate in the CIT. Details, including the date, opponent and site of BGSU's first-round game, will be available in the next few days.

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Notes
* The Falcons will make their second appearance in the CIT and their 21st national postseason appearance overall (4 NCAA, 14 NIT, 1 NCI, 2 CIT).
* BGSU falls to 20-11 overall on the season, the most wins for the Falcons in a single season since posting 24 wins in 2001-02.
* The 20 wins are an eight game improvement from the Falcons' 12 wins last season in 2013-14.
* The loss drops BGSU to 20-33 all-time in the MAC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.
* BGSU falls to 1-5 all-time versus Eastern Michigan in the MAC postseason tournament.
* The Falcons advanced to the MAC Championship Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio for the first time since 2011.
* With the loss, BGSU finished the season 8-2 overall versus the MAC West Division.
* BGSU moves to 17-6 on the season overall when scoring 60 points or more for the game.
* The Falcons, who shot 53.2 percent for the game, dropped their first contest of the season when shooting over 50 percent for the game and move to 6-1 when making half of their shots or more.
* The 15 turnovers for the Falcons was the most by BGSU in a game since recording 15 turnovers back on Feb. 10 in a home win over Western Michigan, 10 games ago.
* First year head coach Chris Jans is the first Falcons men's basketball coach to post 20 wins in his first season on the sidelines for the Falcons. His 20 wins are the most by any first year head coach in BGSU's 100 years of men's basketball.
* With his 18 points, Richaun Holmes moved up to 36th-place on BGSU's all-time scoring list with 1,075 career points.
* Richaun Holmes recorded double digit points for the 25th time this season, a team-high, with his 18 points.
* Jehvon Clarke posted his 16th double digit scoring game this season with his 18 points.
* Zack Denny tallied his 15th double digit points output of the year with 13 points.