Chips Clip Falcons, 77-65

Saturday, January 30

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

4:30 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

13-8,4-4MAC

Central Michigan

12-9,5-3MAC

Bowling Green

Central Michigan

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 30, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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

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        1st half - Worrell putback basket
        2nd half - Block at the rim by Worrell
                        Wiggins with the rebound and basket
                        Alcegaire and-1 in the lane
                        TIsdale kick out to Denny for the layup
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Mount Pleasant, Mich. – Looking for its fourth straight Mid-American Conference road win of the season, Bowling Green State University struggled on the offensive end with 14 turnovers and shot just 37.1 percent from the field overall for the game as the Central Michigan Chippewas clipped the Falcons for a 77-65 win in MAC cross-divisional play on Saturday evening in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

The loss drops BGSU to 13-8 overall and 4-4 in MAC play, while the win, CMU's second over the Falcons this season, pushes the Chippewas to 12-9 overall and 5-3 in league play.

BGSU's 14 turnovers led to a total of 19 CMU points for the game, while the Chips also hit nine three-pointers (9-of-22, 40.9 percent) from long range. BGSU was just 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) from behind the three-point line on the night.

The Falcons' bench outscored the CMU bench 19-5 for the game, while the visitors in black also outscored the Chippewas 38-24 in points in the paint, 17-14 in second chance points and 10-4 in fast-break points.

Senior Spencer Parker led a trio of Falcons in double digit points with 13 on 4-of-8 shooting overall and 5-of-7 shooting from the free throw line. Forward Rasheed Worrell totaled 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while Zack Denny added 11 points and seven rebounds in 36 minutes of play. Off the bench, Ismail Ali added eight points and four rebounds.

Central Michigan also had a trio of players in double figures led by Chris Fowler's game-high 27 points, 21 of which came in the first half of play. Fowler was 9-of-14 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line in 33 minutes of play. Fellow guards Braylon Rayson and Rayshawn Simmons chipped in with 19 and 10 points apiece respectively, while forward John Simons had nine points and eight rebounds in the win.

Bowling Green shot 41.4 percent (12-of-29) from the field over the first 20 minutes of play, however, the Falcons could not slow down Fowler and the CMU attack, as the Chips shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the floor overall to take a 41-30 lead into the halftime break.

The Falcons, as they have all season long, found themselves down right off the opening tip, as back-to-back mid-range jumpers from Fowler and Rayson gave the home team an early 4-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest.

BGSU responded with a 5-0 spurt by way of a long three-ball from David Joseph and a fast-break layup from Worrell to give the visitors in black its first lead of the game at 5-4 with 17:41 to go in the first half.

After the two teams swapped the lead back-and-forth, the Chips used two BGSU turnovers to run off eight straight points and pull back out in front of the Falcons at 14-7 on an offensive rebound and three-pointer from Simons at the 13:33 mark of the opening period.

Denny answered with four straight points of his own, on two free throws and a tough offensive rebound and stick back basket, over the next 1:12 to put the Falcons down just three at 14-11 with just over 12 minutes left before the halftime break.

CMU would continue to stay hot on the offensive end, however, as the Chips ran out to an 11-point lead on a three-pointer from Simons at the 6:55 mark to put the score at 26-15 in favor of the home team.

The resilient Falcons used three quick buckets, two from Parker and one from Worrell over the next minute, to narrow the gap to five at 26-21 with just over 5:30 to go before the halftime intermission.

Fowler would end the BGSU run with two free throws and score the next six points to keep the home team on top of the Falcons at 32-24, before five straight points from Rayson extended the Chips lead back out to double digits at 37-25 as time ticked away in the first half.

BGSU got to as close as 10 at 37-27 on a layup from Demajeo Wiggins and then within nine at 39-30 on an old-fashion three-point play from Parker, only to see a runner at the buzzer from Fowler bank in to give the Chips a double digit halftime lead at 41-30.

Out of the halftime break, the offensive woes continued for the Falcons who missed each of their first five field goal attempts, while the Chips poured in eight straight points to push the lead out to as much as 19 at 49-30 on two free throws from Fowler at the 17:01 mark of the second half.

Following two free throws from Ali at the 16:21 mark, which got the Falcons on the scoreboard in the second half, BGSU doubled up CMU 6-3 in points over the next two minutes to get to within 14 at 52-38 on a tip-in basket from JD Tisdale.

The Chips were able to fire the lead back out to 19 points at 57-38, before the Falcons got a runner from Denny and a free throw from Tisdale to put the visitors down by 16 at 57-41 with 11:26 left in regulation.

A layup from CMU's Luke Meyer on the next offensive possession did not slow down the Falcons' attack, as BGSU went on an 8-0 run over the three minutes of the contest to get to within 10 at 59-49 on an old-fashion three-point play from Wes Alcegaire at the 8:46 mark of the final half.

A jumper from Rayson, another layup in the paint from Denny and a jumper from Fowler put the Falcons behind at 63-51 when a free throw contest broke out in McGuirk Arena as the two teams combined to shoot 22 free throws over the final 6:08 of the game.

The next nine points of the game from both teams combined would come from the free throw line, as Central Michigan went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to the Falcons' 4-of-6 to stay out in front by 13 at 68-55 with exactly five minutes left in the contest.

CMU's Rayson hit a trey at the 3:59 mark to put the home team on top by 16, as the Falcons' found themselves in another field goal drought, which lasted exactly 5:05 until a layup from Ali came at the 2:05 mark.

BGSU outscored the Chips 6-5 over the final two minutes of play, however, it was too little too late as the 2014-15 MAC regular season champions held on to improve to 10-1 at home on the season with the 77-65 win.

The Orange and Brown out-rebounded CMU 42-36 over the 40 minute contest.

The Falcons (13-8, 4-4 MAC) will return home to the Stroh Center to host Ball State on Tuesday night, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. on Dollar Day! Get your tickets today!

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Notes

The road loss on Saturday was the first MAC road loss of the season for the Falcons.
The loss was the Falcons' first of the season when BGSU out-rebounded its opponent for the game (11-1).
The two made three-point field goals (2-of-12) ties a season-low for the Falcons on the year. Also had two three-pointers in the loss at Wright State on Dec. 20, 2015.
BGSU's bench, which outscored CMU's bench 19-5, has outscored or matched its opponent's bench in all eight MAC games thus far this season.
With their 17 made free throws, BGSU has now made more three throws than its opponent 13 times this season.
With his 13 points, Parker has now scored in double digits 16 times this season.
With his 11 points, Denny has reached double figures in points 15 times this year.
With his 12 points, Worrell has totaled double digit points nine times on the year.