Zips Use Three-Point Barrage to Down Falcons on Friday Night

Friday, February 26

Akron, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

14-15 (5-11MAC)

Akron

22-7 (11-5MAC)

Bowling Green

Akron

February 26, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

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          1st half - Denny 3pt FG to open the game
                      Worrell move to the basket
                          Wiggins layup off pick & roll
          2nd half - Alcegaire 3pt FG in 2nd half
                      Worrell dunk along the baseline
                      Tisdale with a reverse layup
                          Wiggins to Denny off the rebound
                          Fox 3pt FG from the wing
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Schedule: 2015-16 BGSU Men's Basketball Schedule

Akron, Ohio – The Falcons were hit with an Akron three-point barrage for a full 40 minutes on Friday night, as the Zips hit a season-high 19 three-pointers and shot 46.3 percent from behind the three-point line to down BGSU 89-54 at James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

BGSU was 20-of-48 (41.7 percent) shooting for the game overall and outscored the Zips 26-18 in points in the paint on the night, yet couldn't overcome the sharp-shooting Zips who went 19-of-41 (46.3 percent) from long range and shot 31-of-65 (47.7 percent) overall on the night.

The Zips, who had 57 of their 89 points come from behind the three-point line, also scored 29 points off of 16 BGSU turnovers and outscored the Falcons 11-7 in second chance points as Akron out-rebounded BGSU 37-27 for the game.

BGSU falls to 14-15 overall and 5-11 in MAC play with the loss, while with the win Akron remains atop of the MAC standings at 22-7 overall and 11-5 in league play.

Junior guard Zack Denny led the Falcons with 16 points, on 6-of-12 shooting, with 10 of those points coming in the second half. Rasheed Worrell, who came off the bench for the second straight game, finished with eight points, four rebounds and two blocks, while Wes Alcegaire added seven points and four rebounds.

Akron, which had a total of seven different players make a three-pointer for the game, was led by Reggie McAdams who finished with a game-high 29 points on seven made three-pointers. Forward Kwan Cheatham, Jr., chipped in with 16 points and five rebounds, while guard Antino Jackson finished with 10 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals.

The two teams came out firing in what mirrored a three-point contest, as BGSU's Zack Denny hit the first three-ball to put the visiting Falcons up 3-0 early, but watched as the Zips connected on the next three treys to use the 9-0 run to pull out to a 9-3 lead just over two minutes into the game.

Denny answered with another three-pointer at the 17:40 mark of the opening half to put the Falcons within three at 9-6. However, the turnover bug bit the visitors in orange over the next several minutes of play as BGSU went ice cold from the field to allow the Zips to add to its early lead.

Following Denny's three-pointer, Akron scored six straight points and went on a 17-3 overall run over the next five minutes of play, which included four more three-pointers from the Zips, to push the home team's lead out to 17 points at 26-9 with 12:37 to go in the first half.

A driving layup from David Joseph at the 11:49 mark ended a field goal drought of 5:51 for the Falcons, as BGSU refused to let the game slip away.

Yet the Zips stayed hot from the field, as Akron got a three-pointer from Josh Williams and a layup at the rim from Isaiah Johnson to extend its lead to 20 at 31-11 with over 10 minutes to go in before the halftime break.

BGSU picked up a three-pointer from the top of the key from Spencer Parker, only to see McAdams score eight straight points to add to the Zips lead and put the home team in front at 39-14.

The Falcons were able to take better care of the ball over the final eight minutes of the first half and got baskets from Demajeo Wiggins, Worrell and Antwon Lillard, as well as two free throws apiece from Alcegaire and Wiggins to total 26 points after the first 20 minutes of play.

However, Akron was able to score 13 points of its own over the final eight minutes of play to take a 52-26 lead into the halftime break.

Akron opened the second half on a 7-0 spurt out of the break to pull out in front by 33 points at 59-26 with over 18 minutes left to go in the contest.

The Falcons got a steal and a fast break layup from Denny to kick-start a 6-0 run and went on a 15-4 surge over the next six minutes of the play to put the Orange and Brown down 22 at 63-41 on back-to-back free throws from Denny at the 12:26 mark of the second half.

Yet the three's continued to rain from the Zips, as Akron hit four more treys over the next four minutes to push the lead back out to 31 at 76-45 on a three-ball from Williams with 7:52 to go in the game.

Refusing to throw in the white towel, the Falcons got back-to-back layups from JD Tisdale, as well another basket from Denny and a three-pointer from Matt Fox over the rest of the contest, yet saw Akron hit three more three-pointers and outscore BGSU 13-8 to record the 89-54 home win.

Bowling Green (14-15, 5-11 MAC) will remain on the road to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes on Tuesday night, Mar. 1, at 7 p.m. in Kent, Ohio.

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Notes

BGSU falls to 0-1 overall when playing on Friday nights this season.
The Falcons have now dropped 15 straight games to the Zips.
With the defeat, BGSU falls to 1-7 overall for the month of February.
BGSU dished out 10 assists as a team for the night to extend its streak to six straight games with double digit assists in the contest.
With his six points, Spencer Parker passed his former teammate Richaun Holmes on the all-time career scoring list and now sits in 35th-place overall with 1,092 career points.
With his 16 points, Zack Denny has now scored double digit points in 18 games on the season.
Junior guard Ismail Ali made his first career start as a Falcon on Friday night.