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BG holds off Eagles to pick up road win |
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Written by Jack Carle - Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune
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YPSILANTI, Mich. — Sparked by 17 second-half points from Scott Thomas, Bowling Green rallied for a 64-61 win over Eastern Michigan Wednesday.
“I have to give our guys credit. They stayed on the grind and just kept playing,” BG head coach Louis Orr said. “They gave a determined effort in the second half and just kept fighting and fighting.
“Down the stretch with no time outs (remaining) our guys made the plays, made the shots and got the stops,” Orr added. “They took ownership ... This was a great character win.”
Bowling Green fell behind 16-3 to start the game and trailed for the first 37 minutes of the game. Then the Falcons went on a 14-0 run to rally from a 53-48 deficit to take a six-point lead, 60-56, with just 1:16 remaining to play.
Thomas scored 10 of BG’s 14 points in the spurt, including two 3-pointers. His three-pointer with 3:11 to go gave the Falcons a lead for the first time and his triple on the next trip down the floor put the team up 58-53. Otis Polk scored on a layup with 1:27 left to make it 60-53 and Eastern Michigan was unable to get closer than three the rest of the way.
Freshman Jordon Crawford then helped seal things with four free throws in the final 21 seconds of the game.
BG did miss a free-throw with five seconds left, but an EMU 3-point attempt to tie the game at the buzzer was short.
Thomas missed his first six shots from the field and was held to one point in the first half but made seven of his last nine attempts as he put the Falcons on his shoulders offensively.
“He stepped up big in the second half and hit some big shots. He has that kind of courage and that kind of confidence,” Orr said. “He has a short memory. He believes he’s going to make his next shot.”
Thomas said at halftime the coaches told him to stop settling for jump shots and start talking the ball to the basket.“Lately I’ve been making some big shots,” Thomas said.
Meanwhile on the Eagles’ last 10 possessions, Bowling Green got seven stops.
“Our zone was better. We held them to 28 percent shooting in the second half,” Orr said. EMU shot 60 percent from the field in the first half.
Crawford played 20 minutes off the bench and finished with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal with two turnovers.
“Jordon Crawford gave us a huge lift off the bench,” Orr said. “He’s just a dynamic little player that makes plays, breaks pressure.
The Falcons also got good inside play from Polk, Erik Marschall and Marc Larson. Polk had 10 points and seven rebounds and Marschall had 10 points and six rebounds.
“Our seniors stepped up, Eric and Otis. In the second half they played big,” Orr said.
NOTES: BG has won three of its last four games and is now 10-8 overall and 3-3 in the Mid-American Conference ... EMU is now 10-9, 2-4 ... Against EMU the Falcons were 14-of-26 from the field, including 4-of-8 on 3-pointers, and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line in the second half ... The Falcons had steals on 10 of the Eagles 11 turnovers in the game ... Joe Jakubowski added nine points, three assists and three steals for BG and Dee Brown had six assists ... Bowling Green starts a stretch of four games in eight days hosting Central Michigan Saturday with tipoff at 7 p.m. |
