Falcons Stumble on the Road at NIU in 71-60 Loss

Tuesday, February 16

DeKalb, Ill.

8:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

13-13 (4-9MAC)

Northern Illinois

18-8 (7-6MAC)

Bowling Green

Northern Illinois

Photo by: Larry Clapper

February 16, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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

Final Stats: Box Score (PDF)
Final Stats: Box Score (HTML)
Video: BGSU Highlights
Audio: Postgame Press Conference: Huger
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       1st half - Denny layup after BG miss
                     Lillard 3pt FG from the wing
                     Worrell finish down low
     2nd half - Three-ball from Alcegaire
                     Ali drive to the bucket
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Schedule: 2015-16 BGSU Men's Basketball Schedule

DeKalb, Ill. – Bowling Green had three players in double figures, yet struggled to find any offense to start the second half which allowed the home-standing Northern Illinois Huskies to pull away for the 71-60 win over the Falcons in MAC cross-divisional play on Tuesday night at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill.

BGSU, who trailed by six at 38-32 at the halftime break, stumbled to a slow start in the second half missing its first 10 shot attempts and going the first 8:11 of the second half without a field goal to fall behind by as much as 18 over the final 20 minutes of play in the road loss.

The Falcons shot 18-of-55 (32.7 percent) from the floor overall for the game, but were just 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) in the second half. BGSU was also 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from behind the three-point line and 16-of-22 (72.7 percent) from the free throw line for the 40 minute contest.

However, NIU who outscored the Falcons 36-16 in points in the paint, 17-10 in points off turnovers and 14-4 in fast break points on the night, shot 27-of-62 (43.5 percent) as a team and was 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) shooting from long range in the win.

Starters Wes Alcegaire and Spencer Parker each led the Falcons with 14 points on the night, while off the bench Antwon Lillard added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds in 24 minutes of play. Ismail Ali finished with six assists and four points, while Zack Denny chipped in with eight points and four rebounds in the loss.

The Huskies also had a trio of players in double digits led by Aaric Armstead's team-high 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting for the game. Marshawn Wilson added 12 points, three assists and three steals, while the big man in the middle Marin Maric posted a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The two teams traded baskets to open up the contest, as Marjic of NIU and Parker of BGSU swapped layups before the Huskies' Wilson and the Falcons' Denny traded three-pointers to keep the score knotted up at 5-5 with 17:47 to go in the first half.

NIU would knock down two three-pointers and then get a short jumper from Andrew Zelis over the next two and half minutes of play to run out to a 13-5 lead at the 15:13 mark, as the Falcons went cold from the floor offensively and struggled to find the bottom of the net.

A long jump shot from Lillard at the 14:19 mark ended the NIU run and was the first of two straight Falcon baskets, as Alcegaire followed with his first trey of the game to put the visitors down three at 13-10 with 13:41 to go in the opening half of play.

After the Huskies answered with a 4-0 run to push their lead back out to seven at 17-10, BGSU picked up another three-pointer this time from David Joseph from the left wing to close the gap back to four at 17-13.

However, the home team in red continued to answer ever Falcon bucket, as the Huskies scored seven straight, on a three-pointer from Travon Baker and back-to-back baskets in the post from Jaylen Key to push the NIU lead out to double digits at 24-13 with 8:42 to go before the halftime break.

The Falcons countered with an offensive rebound and layup down low from Denny and then a corner three-pointer from Alecgaire to jump-start an 8-2 spurt by BGSU who trimmed the NIU lead to five at 26-21 on a free throw from Rasheed Worrell at the 4:14 mark of the opening period.

Each team added a layup over the next minute of play before an 18-foot jumper from the right wing from Ali put the Falcons within three at 28-25 with just under three minutes to go in the first half.

While the BGSU defense slowed down the Huskies offensive attack, NIU was able to get to the free throw line, connecting on 4-of-5 foul shot attempts to push its lead back out to seven at 32-25.

BGSU tallied seven points over the final two minutes of the half by way of two free throws and a three-ball from Lillard and a layup down low from Worrell, yet saw the Huskies drain two more treys to take a 38-32 lead into the halftime break.

Out of the halftime intermission at the Falcons could not buy a basket, as BGSU went 0-of-10 from the field over the first 8:11 of the second period while the Huskies went on a 13-2 run, the lone two points for the visiting Falcons coming from the free throw line, to take a 51-34 lead over BGSU with just over 12 minutes to go in the game.

BGSU's first field goal of the second half came on a three-pointer from Alcegaire at the 11:47 mark, while less than a minute later Parker drained a trey to put BGSU down 13 at 53-40.

The visitors in white got a free throw from Joseph, two layups from Lillard and a driving left handed layup from Ali over the next four minutes of play, however, the Falcons could not stop the Huskies who matched BGSU with two free throws from Laytwan Porter, a three-pointer from Armstead and a drive to the hoop from Porter to keep the lead at double digits at 62-47 with 7:19 left in regulation.

BGSU got to within 13 on two free throws from Parker, yet saw a 5-0 run by the Huskies push the lead back out to 18 points at 67-49 as time ticked out on the Falcons.

The Orange and Brown scored the last four points of the game on a layup from Alcegaire and two free throws from Lillard, yet it wasn't enough as NIU held on for the 71-60 cross-divisional win.

The Falcons (13-13, 4-9 MAC) will wrap up their two-game road swing on Saturday, Feb. 20, at Buffalo. The game is set for a 12 p.m. (noon) start.

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Notes
* BGSU's Spencer Parker's 14 points gives him a total of 1,047 career points as a Falcon.
* With his 14 points, Parker has now scored in double figures 20 times this season.
* With his two made three-point field goals on the night, Zack Denny has eclipsed 100 career made treys as a Falcon. He now has 101 three-pointers at BGSU.
* With his six assists, Ismail Ali has now reached 100 assists this season and now has 102 on the year overall.
* Antwon Lillard's 13 points gives him a total of nine games this season in which he has scored double digit points.
* Lillard's team-high seven rebounds ties his career-high in boards for a single contest.
* With his 14 points, Wes Alcegaire has totaled double digit points in 11 different games on the season.
* The loss in the NIU Convocation Center on Tuesday night puts the Falcons at 2-1 on the year in arenas with the name of Convocation Center.
* BGSU finished the regular season at 2-6 overall versus the MAC West Division with wins at Eastern Michigan and at Western Michigan.
* NIU improved to 15-1 at home on the year in the win with the Huskies lone loss coming to Buffalo on Feb. 2.