Falcons Cut Down the Mighty Oaks, 87-56

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        1st half - Denny 3pter from the wing
                      Joseph to Lillard alley-oop
                      Lillard put back dunk
                      Wiggins' rejection out of bounds
                      Tisdale steal and slam
        2nd half - Worrell slam from Parker
                    Worrell and-1 down low
                      Tisdale steal and dish to Denny
                      Busuttil three-ball from top of the key
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BGSU Highlights

Coach Huger Postgame Press Conference

Denny Postgame Press Conference

Bowling Green, Ohio – Bowling Green State University shot 51.5 percent overall from the field for the game, while all 13 Falcons that took the floor scored in the 87-56 non-conference win over Oakland City (Ind.) University on Saturday afternoon inside the Stroh Center.

With the win, BGSU finished its regular season non-conference slate at 9-4 and will tip-off MAC play at home on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The nine regular season non-conference wins for the Falcons on the season are the most by a BGSU team since the 2006-07 team tallied 10 non-conference victories over its regular season slate.

The Falcons were 34-of-66 (51.5 percent) shooting on the afternoon and held Oakland City to only 22 made baskets on 34.9 percent shooting. BGSU outscored the Mighty Oaks 54-16 in points in the paint, 20-9 in points off turnovers, 18-6 in second chance points, 19-4 in fast break points and 51-19 in bench points for the contest.

Zack Denny registered his second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Falcons, while off the bench freshman Antwon Lillard added a career-high 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes of play. Junior guard Ismail Ali pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds, while BGSU's big guys Demajeo Wiggins and Rasheed Worrell finished with nine and eight points apiece, respectively.

The Oaks were led by senior Matt Lucas' team-high 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting and Addison Wagler's 10 points. Andrew Scott chipped in with seven points off the bench for OCU, while three different players grabbed a team-high five rebounds in the loss.

After a 10-day break between games, as the Falcons last played on Dec. 23 at Cleveland State, BGSU looked sluggish at the start of the contest as Oakland City took a 2-0 lead on a Lucas jumper to open the game and then again at 4-2 on a jumper by Byron Dulin in the lane with 18:20 to go in the opening half.

BGSU, who was 1-of-6 from the floor to start the game, tied the score up at 4-4 on free throws from Wes Alcegaire, before a slashing Alcegaire dropped in a finger roll layup at the 15:34 mark of the first half to give the home team a two-point lead at 6-4.

A fast break layup from Worrell and a three-pointer from the right wing from Denny added to the 9-0 run by the Falcons who took an 11-4 lead over the Mighty Oaks and refused to look back for the remainder of the contest.

Following a three-pointer from OCU's Scott, which put the visitors in blue down just four at 11-7, the Falcons used five straight points from Denny, a jumper from Worrell and a three-pointer from David Joseph over a three minute stretch to give the home team a 12-point lead at 21-9 with 9:02 to go in the first half.

The next two BGSU baskets would come in exciting fashion, as Lillard took an alley-oop inbounds pass from Joseph along the baseline and slammed it home with two hands to put the Falcons back in front by 11 at 23-12. Just under a minute later, Lillard soared through the air to grab an offensive rebound and flush it down to give him four straight points and a 13-point lead at 25-12 with 7:11 to go before the halftime break.

Oakland City used the three-ball to get to as close as eight twice over the remainder of the opening half, however, BGSU continued to score efficiently on the offensive end to push the lead back out to 11 at 33-22 on a reverse layup from Wiggins at the 2:57 mark.

The Orange and Brown closed the final 1:25 of the first half out on a 7-0 run, highlighted by a two-handed jam from JD Tisdale, to head into the locker room in front by 15 at 40-25 at the halftime intermission.

BGSU, who entered the game at 7-0 on the year when leading at the halftime break, kept true to its season trend, as the Falcons opened up the second half with a thunderous alley-oop dunk from Spencer Parker to Worrell and two straight free throws from Parker to extend the Falcons' lead to 19 at 44-25 with just over 19 minutes to go in the game.

The Oaks refused to go away and answered with six straight points of its own, and outscored the Falcons 13-5 over the next four minutes of play to trim the BGSU lead to 11 at 49-38 on a jumper from Wagler from the right wing.

With over 15 minutes still to go in the contest, the Falcons' increased the energy and intensity on both ends of the floor to fly out on a 17-0 run, highlighted by six points apiece from both Wiggins and Lillard, to push the home team's lead to 68-38 with 8:56 left in regulation.

Going to his bench, head coach Michael Huger's squad pushed the lead out to as much as 33 over the final eight minutes of the contest and got points from Matt Fox, Malik Hluchoweckyj, Garrett Mayleben and Brandon Busuttil in route to the 87-56 non-conference win.

Bowling Green (9-4) will open up MAC play at home on Wednesday night, Jan. 6, versus the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on BCSN and ESPN3.

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Notes

The win puts BGSU at 9-4 on the season and 5-1 at home inside the Stroh Center.
BGSU's nine non-conference wins this year are the most for a Falcons' squad since BGSU tallied 10 non-conference wins in 2006-07 (regular season play only).
BGSU's 87 points are the second most points scored by the Falcons in a single game this season (Urbana – 96).
Bowling Green is now 46-24 all-time at home in the Stroh Center.
The Falcons are now 24-1 at home inside the Stroh Center when scoring 70 points or more.
BGSU is now 8-0 on the season when leading the contest at the halftime break.
The Falcons are now 9-0 on the year when out-rebounding their opponent for the contest.
With their 51.5 percent field goal percentage in the win, BGSU has now shot over 44 percent in all nine of its wins on the season.
Bowling Green is now 3-0 on the season when shooting over 50 percent for the game.
BGSU Zack Denny has now made at least one three-pointer in 17 straight games and in all 13 games this year.
The 15-point halftime lead (40-25) in the win on Saturday was the Falcons' largest halftime lead of the season.
Zack Denny posted his second straight double-double (Oakland City & Cleveland State) for the second time this season. He also had back-to-back double-doubles versus Youngstown State and FGCU on Nov. 22 & 23.
Zack Denny posted his fourth double-double of the season, a team-high, with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Antwon Lillard had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists, all new career-highs.
Ismail Ali pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.
Brandon Busuttil scored a career-high five points in the win.

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Zack Denny

Antwon Lillard

Demajeo Wiggins

Rasheed Worrell

Players Mentioned

Wes Alcegaire

Ismail Ali

Brandon Busuttil

Zack Denny

Matt Fox

Malik Hluchoweckyj

David Joseph

Antwon Lillard

Garrett Mayleben

Spencer Parker

JD Tisdale

Demajeo Wiggins

Rasheed Worrell

Players Mentioned

Wes Alcegaire

Ismail Ali

Brandon Busuttil

Zack Denny

Matt Fox

Malik Hluchoweckyj

David Joseph

Antwon Lillard

Garrett Mayleben

Spencer Parker

JD Tisdale

Demajeo Wiggins

Rasheed Worrell

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