 OHIO 70, BOWLING GREEN 60 The Falcons were up two, 43-41, with 11:53 left in the game after a 3-pointer from Jordon Crawford, but they made only two field goals in the next 11:17.
CALHOUN FOUL TROUBLE
Head coach Louis Orr said having A’uston Calhoun for only 10 minutes in the game hurt BG’s offense. Calhoun came into the game averaging 15.0 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 47 percent from the floor in his last 17 games. Due to foul trouble and the performance of Craig Sealey, Calhoun scored two points before fouling out.
“We need all of our big guys to contribute in different ways,” Orr said. “We needed guys to score down the stretch. We needed our offensive players to make shots. … We missed A’uston’s low-post scoring.”
Mike Dabney converted a three-point play for the Falcons with 6:16 left cutting Ohio’s lead to 56-52. The Bobcats answered with three close range shots, pushing their lead to 60-52 with 3:25 remaining.
Scott Thomas nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key for Bowling Green making it 60-55 with 2:20 left. Ohio then made a 7-0 run before Dee Brown hit a three for the Falcons with 36 seconds left, cutting Ohio’s lead to 67-58. However, the Falcons could get no closer.
BG RALLY NETS HALFTIME LEAD
Ohio hit seven of its first 14 shots from the field to start the game and the Falcons were down 28-17 before closing the first half on a 15-2 run to take a 32-30 lead into the break.
Sealey and Crawford came off the bench to spark the Falcons in the first half. Sealey was 4-of-4 from the field in the opening half and led BG with eight points at the break. Crawford contributed five points and six assists in the opening 20 minutes.
“Craig Sealey gave us a big lift on both ends of the floor ... He really grew up tonight,” Orr said. “I hope he continues to grow, because he gives us a lot of energy. He’s worked very hard in practice. I was pleased with his effort and his productivity.”
Orr was also pleased with his team’s defensive effort against the Bobcats.
“Defense has been a challenge for us over the last five or six games,” Orr said. “For us to hold Ohio to 38 percent shooting from the floor ... in their gym (was good).
“Our zone was active. Our defense was active,” he continued. “But when you give up 18 offensive rebounds that lead to 17 second-chance points, that was probably the biggest difference in the game.”
Crawford finished with 10 points and a career-high 10 assists, the first career double-double for the sophomore, while Brown also scored 10 points.
Thomas, BG’s second-leading scorer on the season behind Calhoun, finished with nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals
NOTES: Ohio is now 15-13 overall and 7-6 in the MAC East, having won seven of its last nine games ... BG’s Luke Kraus was ejected from the game after a flagrant foul on Ohio’s Tommy Freeman with 18 seconds remaining in the game ... Freeman scored a game-high 20 points, setting the Ohio career record for 3-pointers made in the process ... BG plays at Miami Saturday with tipoff at 11 a.m. in a game to be televised on ESPNU.
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