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KENT, OH. – Coming into their game Sunday afternoon at the MAC Center, neither the Bowling Green Falcons nor Kent State Golden Flashes could afford another loss - even though it is still early in this Mid-American Conference season.
In a spirited affair, the Falcons used an 18-3 run to erase a six-point deficit with 3:40 remaining on the way to 76-70 win over KSU before 3,659 fans.
Sophomores Scott Thomas and Dee Brown led the Falcons with 27 and 21 points, respectively. Both were career highs.
Bowling Green (8-7, 1-2 MAC) ended a two-game losing streak overall and a four-game road skid by defeating KSU for the third time in the last four meeting while picking up their first win in Kent since January,2006
Falcons head coach Louis Orr praised “how we played and how our young guys showed courage in the way we came back. They made plays.” Orr specifically noted the performances of Thomas and Brown. They “are just sophomores, but today they played like seniors”
Kent State (10-7, 1-2 MAC) suffeed its second consecutive loss in excruciating fashion. Wednesday night at Miami, KSU squandered a three-point lead with 1:07 remaining in regulation and a four-point advantage in overtime to lose to the Redhawks, 55-53.
“Give them a lot of credit today. We didn’t play hard enough, didn’t play well enough,” KSU head man Geno Ford said afterwards, “I thought Thomas and Dee Brown were fantastic at crunch time, making every big shot”
With the Golden Flashes leading 64-58 after a layup by Justin Greene, BG went on a 12-3 run to take the lead for good, 70-66, on a layup by Thomas with 45 seconds remaining. The Falcons extended the lead to nine in the closing moments thanks to six consecutive free throws before winning by six.
The run capped a phenomenal second half for the Falcons who shot 15-of-26 from the field (57.7%) including 5-for-10 from beyond the three-point arc to finish the contest at 51 percent (26-for-51). In addition, they won the rebound battle 37-32 (20-14 in the second half) and were a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line and (16-of-18 over the 40 minutes).
Not long ago, Bowling Green was one of the worst free throw shooting teams in all of Division I, but over their last four games, they have shot 81.8 % (72-for-88) from the charity stripe.
KSU had a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures. Guard Mike McKee led the way, coming off the bench to score 20 points while going 6-of-10 from beyond the arc and 7-of-12 overall. Greene, Tyree Evans, and Chris Singletary each had 13, but it was not enough as the Golden Flashes saw their three-game home winning streak come to an end.
KSU struggled making some key defensive stops and missed six-of-seven shots on the offensive end before McKee connected on a three with eight seconds remaining.
At the start of the game, it looked like the visitors would run away and hide as BG scored the game’s first 11 points. KSU did not score until the 13:54 mark of the first half, when Evans connected for a three-pointer from the left side of the line.
In fact, Kent State’s first nine points came on threes. Its first two-point basket came on a driving layup by Singletary, part of a 17-3 run that saw KSU take its first lead of the contest 23-20 at the 8:11 mark on a three by McKee.
After the Falcons regained the lead 24-23 on a baseline jumper by reserve Danny McElroy, Kent State closed the half with a 12-4 spurt to take a seven-point lead into halftime 35-28.
KSU started the game 0-for-11 from the field but ended the half going 12-for-18 while Bowling Green, who started the contest four-of-eight from the floor, finished the half just 7-for-17.
When asked about the slow start, Ford said “I don’t know if I had ever been more embarrassed and disappointed with a group of guys in terms of our collective effort to start the game”
At the start of the second half, a conventional three-point play by Singletary gave the Golden Flashes their largest lead of the game 38-28. BG countered with an 18-6 spurt to retake the lead 46-43 with 11:16 remaining on a three-point play by Marc Larson.
The two teams then exchanged the lead before Kent State opened a six-point advantage at the 3:40 mark on Greene’s layup. That set the stage for the Falcons heroics
“Our zone did a better job today in identifying the shooters especially in the second half.” Orr said. “But overall, (it was) a great team win in a tough place to play.”
KSU contributed to its problems with some poor shooting - not only in the closing moments, but in the entire second half. Over the second 20 minutes, Kent State shot just 32.3% from the floor (10-of-31), finishing the contest at just 36.1% (22-for-61).
“We shot 11-for-33 on layups, and that is not going to win you games” Ford said. “We had opportunities but we didn’t finish around the basket”
Kent State will host Buffalo Wednesday night, while Bowling Green returns to Anderson Arena to face Ohio.
NOTES: The game was the 143rd meeting between the two schools, with Bowling Green holding an 80-64 advantage…Chris Singletary-KSU became the 26th player in school history to score 1000 points…Tyree Evans-KSU connected on his 100th career three-pointer the 12th player in school history to reach that mark… Ed Hightower one of the top referees in all of college basketball was the lead official for the game on Sunday. Hightower has worked numerous Final Fours, including the Memphis-Kansas Championship game in 2008.
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