Bulls Slip Past the Falcons on Senior Night

Friday, March 4

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

14-17, 5-13MAC

Buffalo

17-14, 10-8MAC

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Photo by: Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications

March 04, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

2016 MAC Tournament: Bracket (PDF)
Final Stats: Box Score (PDF)
Final Stats: Box Score (HTML)
Video: BGSU Highlights
Video: Postgame Press Conference: Huger | Parker
Audio: Postgame Press Conference: Huger | Parker
Audio: Postgame Interview with Todd Walker: Huger
Audio: Radio Calls by Todd Walker:
      1st half - Lillard slam off the dish from Joseph
                      Baseline drive & jam from Lillard
                      Joseph stop & pop three-ball
                      Alcegaire drive & dunk
                      Pep stays hot with a long jumper
      2nd half - Alcegaire fast break layup
                      Worrell down low with the and-1
                      Parker three-ball from the wing
                      Ali steal leads to Alcegaire layup
                      Ali and-1 off the steal & fast break
                      Lillard putback slam high above the rim
                      Worrell block on UB drive
Photos: Photo Gallery (Christine Nelson)
News: The Centennial Season
Falcon Fans Photo Poster: Download your poster today!

Bowling Green, Ohio – In their final game of the 2015-16 regular season, the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team had four players score in double figures and erased a 10-point Buffalo lead only to let the game slip away late in allow the Bulls to escape the Stroh Center with an 87-83 Mid-American Conference win on Senior Night.

Prior to the opening tip, the BGSU men's basketball program recognized seniors Brandon Busuttil, David Joseph and Spencer Parker.

For the third time in the last five games, the Falcons as a team shot over 50 percent, as BGSU was 32-of-60 (53.3 percent) from the field overall on Friday night. However, the Orange and Brown were just 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from behind the three-point line and only 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) from the charity stripe for the 40 minute contest.

Buffalo also shot 50 percent, as the Bulls were 33-of-66 from the field overall, but were better from the three-point line going 10-of-25 (40 percent). The visitors in black also struggled at the free throw line where they were just 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) for the game.

BGSU outscored the Bulls 48-36 in points in the paint and 33-29 in bench points, however, Buffalo held 15-13 advantage in points off turnovers and a 14-10 edge in fast break points over the Falcons on the night.

In his final game in the Stroh Center, Parker led the way for the Falcons with 20 points and five rebounds. It was his ninth 20-plus point game of the season and gives him a total of 1,127 career points all time at BGSU.

BGSU freshman Antwon Lillard poured in a career-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, which included three highlight reel dunks, while Joseph matched his BGSU career-high with 13 points, all of which came in the first half of play. Junior Wes Alcegaire totaled 11 points, five rebounds and a career-high five steals, while freshman Demajeo Wiggins finished with six points and seven rebounds for the Falcons.

Buffalo had five players in double digit points led by the duo of Lamonte Bearden and Blake Hamilton who each finished with 20 points and five rebounds. Fellow starter Willie Conner added 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while off the bench CJ Massinburg and Nick Perkins chipped in with 12 and 11 points apiece, respectively.

The loss sealed the No. 12 seed for the Falcons in the upcoming 2016 MAC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament, as BGSU finished the regular season at 14-17 overall and 5-13 in MAC play.

The Falcons struggled to score to star the contest, as the Orange and Brown trailed 7-0 out of the opening tip and didn't get on the scoreboard until a Zack Denny pass found a slashing Parker for a layup at the 16:24 mark of the opening half.

A left-handed layup from Joseph 30 seconds later put the Falcons down five at 9-4, before Buffalo pushed its lead out to eight at 12-4 on a three-pointer from Conner and then again at 14-6 on a jumper in the paint from Perkins with 13:31 to go in the first half.

BGSU closed the gap to four at 14-10 on a fast break dunk from Lillard, again at 16-12 on back-to-back free throws from JD Tisdale, once more at 18-14 on a baseline drive and slam from Lillard, and then at 21-17 on a three-ball from Joseph, yet the Bulls continued to get baskets on the other end to stay out in front of the home team.

The Orange and Brown were able to get to as close as three at 30-27 on a jumper from Joseph at the 4:41 mark of the first half, but struggled to get a stop on the defensive end as Buffalo used an 11-4 run to stampede out to a 10-point lead at 41-31 at the 2:02 mark of the firs half on a three-pointer from Perkins.

The Falcons ended the half out on a 6-0 run by way of two free throws from Parker, a layup down low from Lillard and two more foul shots from Lillard to get to within four at 41-37 at the halftime break.

Unlike the first half, the Falcons came out hot to start the second half, as a layup on the block from Wiggins and a three-pointer from the wing from Parker, sandwiched a basket by the Bulls, to put the home team down just one at 43-42 with 19:02 to go in the contest.

After Buffalo's Hamilton put the Bulls back in front by three at 45-42 on back-to-back free throws, BGSU picked up another lay-in from Wiggins, a fast break layup from Alcegaire and a jump-hook in the lane from Rasheed Worrell to give the home team a three-point lead at 48-45 with 14:16 left on the game clock.

A three-pointer on the next UB possession tied the game back up at 48-48, as the tight contest would see three more ties over the next eight minutes of play and the largest lead being just six points by the Falcons at 67-61 on a trey from Parker and once again at 71-65 on a driving layup from Ismail Ali at the 6:09 mark of the second half.

However, following the Ali layup, the Bulls recorded six straight points to knot the game up for a fifth time at 71-71 with 5:16 to play.

BGSU answered with two free throws from Alcegaire and an old-fashion three-point play from Ali to fly back on top by five at 76-71 with just under five minutes to go regulation.

The next three minutes would see the two teams go back-and-forth, as Buffalo got a three-ball from Bearden only to see a rebound and dunk high above the rim from Lillard keep the home team in front by four at 78-74.

Buffalo answered with another trey from Perkins to trim the BGSU lead to just one at 78-77, when Parker took matters in to his own hands to score the next three points and put the home team back in front by four at 81-77 with 2:17 left on the game clock.

Over the final 2:17 of play, the Bulls got an old-fashion three-point play from Hamilton, a layup from Bearden and went 5-of-6 from the free throw line as a team, while the Falcons went just 1-of-4 from the field overall, a tough layup in the lane by Parker, turned the ball over twice and committed five fouls to allow the visitors in black to outscore the Falcons 10-2 late and escape with the 87-83 road win.

Bowling Green (14-17, 5-13 MAC) will hit the road to take on No. 5 Kent State for the first round of the conference championship tournament on Monday, Mar. 7, at 7 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center. The Golden Flashes swept the Falcons in the regular season with a 62-59 win at BGSU on Jan. 23 and a 70-54 in Kent on Mar. 1.

###

Notes

BGSU recognized seniors Brandon Busuttil, David Joseph and Spencer Parker prior to the game.
With the loss, the Falcons received the No. 12 seed in the 2016 MAC Championship Tournament, which will begin on Monday, Mar. 7.
The Falcons are just 1-9 since the start of February.
BGSU has now dropped five straight games to Buffalo with the last win coming back in 2013-14.
With their 11 assists, the Falcons have now dished out double digit assists in each of the last eight games.
With its 53.3 field goal percentage overall for the game, the Falcons have now shot 50 percent or better in three of their last five contests.
With its 83 points in the home loss on Friday night, BGSU is now 26-3 all-time inside the Stroh Center when scoring 70 points or more for the game.
Spencer Parker increased his career points total to 1,127 overall, which ranks 34th all-time in BGSU's 100-year history.
With his 20 points, Parker has now recorded a total of nine 20-plus point games on the year.
Antwon Lillard poured in a career-high 19 points off the bench for the Falcons.
David Joseph matched his BGSU career-high with 13 points on the night.
With his 11 points, Wes Alcegaire has scored in double figures in 15 games this season.
Brandon Busuttil made his second career start as a Falcon in the regular season finale.