 BOWLING GREEN 67, ST. LOUIS 61 The Falcons shot 52.1 percent from the field, scoring 42 of their 67 points in the paint.Meanwhile, BG did not make a 3-pointer in the game in four attempts.
“I’m a firm believer that you have to play this game inside-out,” said BG head coach Louis Orr. “If you can establish an inside game, it does so many good things. It gets the other team in foul trouble. You get high-percentage baskets.
“On our ball-screen stuff, we were able to hit the roll man. A’uston Calhoun, Cameron Black and Torian Oglesby did a good job around the basket,” Orr continued. “Our guards ... did a really good job of getting them the ball.”
The two-man game of point-guard Jordon Crawford and Calhoun was especially effective for the Falcons. Crawford found Calhoun off the pick-and-roll for layups and Calhoun was also able to take advantage of his quick first step to get free for a look at the basket.
Calhoun finished with 20 points, hitting on 9-of-14 shots from the floor, despite picking up his fourth foul with 15:57 to play in the game. He also had seven rebounds. “A’uston was huge, especially in the second half,” Orr said.
Saint Louis did take away Scott Thomas, BG’s second-leading scorer at 10.4 ppg, due in part to the defensive pressure of Kyle Cassity. Thomas did not score, but had eight rebounds and four steals.
Trailing 44-43 with 8:04 remaining, the Falcons took the lead on a pair of free throws from Calhoun. After a jumper by Crawford, Calhoun hit five straight baskets for a 55-47 lead with 3:26 left. Saint Louis got as close as 65-61 with nine seconds remaining on Kyle Cassity’s 3-pointer, but Dee Brown sealed it with two free throws for the Falcons.
Brown led Bowling Green with 21 points and Crawford added 10 points and six assists.
Crawford was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final 1:23 and Brown was 3-of-4 in the final 14 seconds,
“Dee Brown put together two offensive halves and made big shots for us,” Orr said.
“Jordon really did a really good job of creating opportunities and controlling the game at the end,” Orr added.
The Falcons started the game slowly with three missed shots and five turnovers before Oglesby scored BG’s first hoop on a short hook shot off a Crawford assist with 14:31 left in the first half. Brown had opened the scoring for BG with two free throws with16:57 left in the half.
With Saint Louis failing to convert on its 3-point attempts, BG stayed close in the opening half. An 8-1 run to close out the half gave BG a 27-25 lead at the break.
The game remained close in the second half until Calhoun, Brown and Crawford took over in the final eight minutes.
“We played the game the right way; we played smart. We won on our terms. We played to our strengths and that’s good to see,” Orr said.
Brian Conklin had the hot hand for Saint Louis (5-8), making 7-of-11 shots and finishing with a career-high 22 points. His teammates struggled, however, connecting on just 10-of-35 shots, including going 4-of-19 on 3-pointers.
St. Louis head coach Rick Majerus suffered a laceration on his left leg after colliding with an SLU player on the Billiken sideline with 14:11 remaining in the second half. As a precaution, he left the bench area and did not return.
Majerus, who was evaluated by SLU’s team doctors at Chaifetz Arena, is expected to coach the Billikens Wednesday against Dayton. Porter Moser, the associate head coach, finished out the game as the Billikens coach.
NOTES: The Falcons open Mid-American Conference play Saturday at Buffalo with at 7 p.m. ... Oglesby hit all four of his shots from the floor and added four rebounds and a block in 21 minutes of action as Black (five fouls) and Calhoun (four fouls) were in foul trouble most of the game ... BG made nine more steals in the game ... It is the first time this year that the Falcons have won a game when scoring less than 70 points ... Brown and Calhoun are the first BG teammates to score 20 points in a game since Scott Thomas scored 27 and Brown added 21 in the win at Kent State on Jan. 17, 2010.
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