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BOWLING GREEN 73, OHIO 61

TIED FOR FIRST
The Falcons, 8-10 overall and tied for first in the Mid-American Conference East at 3-1, are 2-0 wearing the throwback jerseys from the 1960s.

“We like wearing them ... We’ve won two games in a row with them, we might as well keep them,” BG junior Scott Thomas said about the jerseys.

“I like them. They make me feel like I’m old school,” said Torian Oglesby, also a junior for the Falcons.

BG’s 2-3 zone was effective against Ohio forcing 17 turnovers in the game. The Falcons were able to limit Ohio guard D.J. Cooper’s ability to get the ball to his teammates, both by good defense on him and also taking away the passing lanes inside. Cooper did score 18 points, but had only four assists with four turnovers. Cooper had come into the game averaging 8.1 assists per game. Ohio was averaging 15.59 assists per game as a team, but had only 12.

COOPER FACTOR
“That was the key for us, defending him (Cooper) and just trying not to let him make too many plays,” BG head coach Louis Orr said. “Overall we did a pretty good job.”

At the offensive end Bowling Green was always looking for the open man and the Falcons finished with assists on 20 of their 27 field goals.

The Falcons started quickly with Oglesby and Luke Kraus in the opening lineup replacing Cameron Black and Dee Brown, respectively. It was the first start as a Falcon for Oglesby, a junior college transfer. The two new starters provided energy and toughness at both ends of the floor.

Thomas scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first half as BG took a 34-29 lead into the break.

In the second half, BG appeared ready to put the game away, opening up a 10-point lead, 51-41 on a Thomas dunk, with 14:35 left in the game. However, neither team scored for the next four minutes and then Ohio whittled BG’s lead to one point on two different occasions.

BOBCATS CLOSE IN
With 7:51 remaining to play, Ohio’s Ivo Baltic hit a jumper to cut BG’s lead to 56-55. The Bobcats then had three turnovers and two missed shots on their next five possessions, helping BG weather the storm.

“We didn’t have enough poise on offense in the last eight minutes of the game,” said Ohio head coach John Groce.  “I thought we panicked a little bit defensively and allowed the floor to get to spread late in the game, which allowed their bigs to get a lot of touches around the basket.”

The Falcons closed the game on a 17-6 run as Jordon Crawford had six points and three assists. Two of the assists came on dunks by Oglesby. A’uston Calhoun also converted a big three-point play down the stretch.

PLAYING BOTH ENDS
“That’s really a time to play with strength and courage, and our guys did that. They played on both ends,” Orr said about the final eight minutes of the game. “They got stops on the defensive end and they executed the offense and they played with poise.”

In addition to Thomas’ 19 points, Calhoun finished with 15 points, Oglesby had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, both career highs as a Falcon and Kraus finished with 13 points. Crawford chipped in with eight points, seven assists, two steals, four rebounds and only two turnovers in 25 minutes off the bench.

“It’s just more of getting used to playing with everybody. I think everybody is starting to find their niche a little bit and know what their roles on the team are,” Thomas said.
Thomas also had nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.

THOMAS IMPRESSIVE - AGAIN
“Scott Thomas was the best player in the game,” Groce said. “He’s been a handful for us since the time I’ve been at Ohio, not only from a point perspective and shooting percentage, but also on the glass. He did it again today.”

NOTES: Ohio is now 8-10, 1-3 ... The Falcons were 7-of-14 on 3-pointers, with Kraus making 3-of-3 and Thomas hitting 3-of-5 ... BG has had four players score n double figures in three straight games ... BG plays at Akron Saturday with tipoff at 7:30 p.m. The BG-Akron game will be televised by SportsTime Ohio