BGSU Falls on the Road at Miami, 55-51

Saturday, February 6

Oxford, Ohio

3:30 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

4-613-10; MAC

Miami

2-88-15; MAC

Bowling Green

Miami University

Photo by: Larry Clapper

February 06, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

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          1st half -   Alcegaire 3pt FG in first half
                          Ali tough runner of glass
                          Parker trey from the top of the key
                          Parker steal & layup
          2nd half -   Denny offensive rebound & score
                          Wiggins put back basket and foul
                      Lillard bucket and and-1
                          Denny corner three late in the game
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Oxford, Ohio – The Falcons' defense held Miami to just 17 made baskets on 30.9 percent shooting for the contest, yet were outscored 19-7 at the free throw line and out-rebounded 46-36 on the glass by the RedHawks who escaped Millett Hall with a 55-51 home win over BGSU in MAC East play on Saturday afternoon in Oxford, Ohio.

In a game that saw nine lead changes and four ties, neither team was able to get anything going offensively for the full 40 minutes of play.

The Falcons shot just 20-of-57 (35.1 percent) overall, including shooting 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) from behind the three-point line, while the BGSU defense held Miami to just 17-of-55 shooting (30.9 percent) overall for the game.

However, the difference came at the free throw line where the RedHawks were 19-of-29 (65.5 percent) compared to the Falcons who were just 7-of-12 (58.3 percent), a 12-point differential at the charity stripe.

The Falcons were whistled for a total of 24 fouls, while Miami was called for 10.

BGSU was led by freshman Demajeo Wiggins who finished with a career-high 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds off the bench for the Falcons. Senior Spencer Parker inched closer to the 1,000 career points mark with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and now has 994 career points as a Falcon. Antwon Lillard added 10 points, on 4-of-8 shooting, off the bench for BGSU, while Zack Denny finished with eight points and 10 rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

Miami scored by committee on Saturday afternoon, as Willie Moore led the home team with 13 points in 18 minutes of play off the bench. Forward Chris Bryant tallied nine points and hauled in 10 rebounds, while MU's leading scorers of Eric Washington and Geovonie McKnight finished with just eight and seven points apiece, respectively.

Both teams didn't appear ready to play off of the opening tip, as the two squads were ice cold from the floor offensively and combined to go 0-of-12 shooting over the first three minutes of the contest.

BGSU got on the scoreboard first with an offensive rebound and put back basket from Parker at the 17:17 mark, which was followed by a Wes Alcegaire free throw 30 seconds later to give the visitors in orange a 3-0 lead with 16:42 to go in the first half of play.

The home standing RedHawks put their first two points on the scoreboard by way of two foul shots at the 16:25 mark, before making their first field goal after missing their first eight shots with less than 16 minutes to go in the half on a jumper in the lane from McKnight to put the red and black on top at 4-3.

Back-and-forth the two teams went with BGSU's Wiggins sinking two free throws, Miami getting a jumper from Rod Mills, the Falcons answering with a three-ball from the top of the key from Alcegaire and then MU's Moore responding with a three-pointer of his own to give the lead back to the RedHawks at 9-8 with 13:39 to go in the opening half.

Neither team could pull away from the other, as Miami took a three-point lead at 11-8 on a layup in the paint from Logan McLane and then again at 13-10 on a drive from Washington, only to see the Falcons bounce back with an old-fashion three-point play from Lillard to tie the score up at 14-14 at the 8:50 mark.

On the next BGSU offensive possession Lillard would knock down a 15-foot jumper from the left wing to put the Falcons back on top by two at 16-14 with 7:43 left before the halftime break.

After Miami knotted the game up at 16-16 on a Mills' baseline jumper with 7:07, the Falcons picked up a trey from Parker to pull back out in front and used the three-pointer to start a 9-2 spurt by the visitors to pull out to a seven point lead at 25-18 at the 2:56 mark of the opening half on a layup in the paint from Parker.

However, the remainder of the first half went in favor of the RedHawks who scored the next six points to cut the BGSU lead to just one at 25-24 at the halftime break.

Bowling Green opened up the second half of play on a 6-0 run to take a six point lead at 30-24 on an offensive rebound and basket from Denny just three minutes into the final period.

Miami, who missed its first four shot attempts to start the second period, got on the scoreboard in the second half by way of a jumper from Mills at the 16:36 mark. The jumper proved to be the first two points of an 11-0 run by the home team over the next four minutes of the contest, as BSGU struggled to find its offense and continued to send the RedHawks to the free throw line.

Following two free throws from LJ Livingston, which put the home team on top at 35-30, BGSU's Wiggins got a jumper in the lane off an offensive rebound to end the scoring drought and then added a layup down low less than 30 seconds later to put the visitors in orange down one at 35-34 with 13:04 left in regulation.

The freshman duo of Wiggins and Lillard each registered a two-point basket for the Falcons over the next two minutes of play to give the Falcons the lead back at 38-37 on a driving layup from Lillard with 10:51 left on the game clock.

The lead did not last long however, as Bryant got a two-handed slam on the next Miami offensive possession to put the RedHawks back on top at 39-38.

BGSU cut the Miami lead to one at 41-40 on a David Joseph runner in the paint with 7:37 to play, yet continued to send the RedHawks to the free throw line where the home team made 4-of-6 free throws, and got a steal and fast break layup from Moore, to push its lead out to seven at 47-40 with just over five minutes left in the contest.

To make matters worse, Joseph's shot in the lane at the 7:37 mark was the only field goal for the Falcons for the next 4:06 of the contest, as a Parker free throw at the 3:36 mark and a three-pointer from the corner from Denny at the 3:04 mark ended the scoring and field goal drought and placed the Falcons down just three at 47-44.

The two teams traded baskets to put the score at 49-46 in favor of the RedHawks with 2:32 to play, when a BGSU foul sent Miami to the charity stripe where Washington hit 1-of-2 foul shots to give the home team some breathing room at 50-46.

The Falcons came up empty on their next offensive series and were forced to foul on the defensive end to try to extend the game.

Miami would go 2-of-4 from the free throw line over that two minute stretch to push the lead out to six at 52-46 with 32.2 seconds to go in the game.

A basket from Wiggins in the paint with 19 seconds left got the Falcons within four, yet two free throws from Miami's Bryant on the ensuing BGSU foul pushed the MU lead back out to six at 54-48.

Refusing to quit, BGSU's Denny knocked down a three-pointer off a set play out of a BGSU timeout to put the visitors down just three at 54-51 with just under 10 seconds left on the game clock.

Forced to foul again, BGSU fouled Miami's Washington who connected on 1-of-2 free throws with 7.5 seconds left in the contest to help seal the 55-51 win for the RedHawks.

Despite being out-rebounded 46-36 for the game, the Falcons outscored Miami 14-6 in second chance points and 28-22 in points in the paint. BGSU also held a 4-2 edge in fast break points and a 24-21 advantage in bench points.

The two teams matched each other with 12 points apiece in points off turnovers.

The Falcons (13-10, 4-6 MAC) will return home to host the MAC East leading Akron Zips on Tuesday night, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. inside the Stroh Center.

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Notes

BGSU is now 6-4 overall on the road this season and 3-2 in MAC road contests.
The Falcons have dropped three straight games for the first time this season.
With the loss, BGSU is now 0-2 to start the month of February.
With his 11 points, Spencer Parker now has 994 career points and is just six points shy from the 1,000 career points mark.
Also with is 11 points, Parker has now scored in double figures in 17 games this season.
Demajeo Wiggins poured in a career-high 12 points off the bench for the Falcons.
Antwon Lillard's 10 points gives him eight double digit point games on the season.
Zack Denny's 10 rebounds gives him eight games on the year with 10 or more rebounds for the contest.
The Falcons' 12 free throw attempts were the second fewest by BGSU in a game this season. The Falcons had just nine foul shot attempts at SEMO on Dec. 8, 2015.
BGSU is now 10-2 on the season when leading at the halftime break.