Falcons Drop 78-72 Decision At South Dakota

Sunday, November 13

Vermillion, SD

4:15 PM

Bowling Green State University

South Dakota

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

November 13, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: NCAA Box/Play-By-Play | HTML
Audio: Coach Huger | Todd Walker With Coach Huger

VERMILLION, S.D. – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team dropped a 78-72 decision to the University of South Dakota on Sunday (Nov. 13) evening. The contest was the first-ever men's basketball game at South Dakota's new facility – the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Bowling Green erased a 13-point deficit in the second half, and took a five-point lead before South Dakota pulled away in the final moments of the game.

With the loss, Bowling Green falls to 0-2 on the season. South Dakota defeated Drake on Nov. 11 and improves to 2-0 on the season with the victory.

"I thought we played hard at times, but we didn't play hard consistently, and that was the difference in the game," said head coach Michael Huger. "It's basketball. We have to be ready to bounce back for the next game.

"We won pretty much every category. From points in the paint, 38-26. Points off turnovers, 17-14. Second-chance points, 23-10. Free throws is where they got us. We made 14-of-18, and they made 24 out of 33. That's a big disparity in the free-throw shooting right there."

Wes Alcegaire, who scored 12 points and had six rebounds, tied the game at 71-71 with a pair of free throws with 1:35 remaining in the contest, but the Coyotes went on to sink four-consecutive free throws, and never relinquished the lead.

Bowling Green trailed by three points with 27 seconds left after South Dakota missed two free throws, but South Dakota aggressively contested a layup on the other end, and secured the rebound as play was allowed to continue on. Three more free throws secured the game for the Coyotes.

Rasheed Worrell finished with a team-high 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He also had five boards. Rodrick Caldwell went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and finished with nine points, while Antwon Lillard scored eight points and had four rebounds.

Zack Denny finished with seven points and seven rebounds. Demajeo Wiggins chipped in with seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Jeff Uju contributed with four points and three rebounds.

After South Dakota built up a 42-29 lead with 18:02 to go in the game, the Falcons began to chip away, and eventually took a 67-62 lead at the 5:17 mark. Following the 13-point deficit, Worrell scored four of the game's next five points, and then Lillard converted an and-one up, and hit the free throw to pull the Falcons within seven at 43-36.

The Coyotes went on to increase their lead back up to eight points, but Caldwell put the Falcons right back into the game. Following a Worrell layup, Caldwell hit consecutive threes to knot the score at 53-53. But the foul disparity was too much for the Falcons to overcome, as South Dakota ended the game by scoring 10 of its final 14 points from the foul line. Within that stretch, the Coyotes scored its final seven points of the game from the foul line after the contest was knotted at 71-71 with 1:35 to play.

Bowling Green committed 28 fouls to South Dakota's 19. South Dakota took advantage by shooting 15 more free throws than BGSU, and scoring 10 more points at the line. South Dakota entered the bonus in the second half with 13:09 left in regulation.

Bowling Green will return to the Stroh Center to stage the Bill Frack Tournament from Nov. 19-21. The Falcons will begin the tournament with a 4 p.m. game against UMKC on Nov. 19. Bowling Green will also play Green Bay on Nov. 20, and Murray State on Nov. 21.