 KENT STATE 63, BOWLING GREEN 57
It wasn’t to be, however, as Kent State got big baskets from Michael Porrini and Rodriguez Sherman in the late going to slip past the Falcons, 63-57 in Anderson Arena Tuesday night. It was the sixth straight loss for the Falcons, now 12-18 overall and 7-8 in the Mid-American Conference East.
“It comes down to a couple of possessions and you have got to try to make the plays at the end, and it didn’t happen,” BG head coach Louis Orr said.
FALCONS RALLY TO TIE
After trailing by 10 with 9:20 remaining in the game, the Falcons rallied to gain a 53-53 tie when Mike Dabney split a pair of free throws with 2:44 left.Less than 30 seconds later, Porrini hit a 12-foot jumper from the right baseline to regain the lead for Kent State.
The Falcons then turned the ball over and with 1:32 remaining, and Sherman nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner.
“Sherman’s three behind Porrini’s basket, it was the dagger,” said Kent State head coach Geno Ford. After Sherman’s three, Kent State made 5-of-6 free throws to put the game away.
“It’s always tough to lose, especially when you’re at home,” BG sophomore A’uston Calhoun said. “Today it was even bigger. We wanted to send the seniors (Dabney and Joe Jakubowski) out winning, here in Anderson. But unfortunately it didn’t work out that way.”
KSU TAKES ADVANTAGE OF TURNOVERS
Kent State held a 23-17 halftime lead, but Orr was pleased with the way the Falcons played defense in the first half, allowing the Golden Flashes to shoot only 28.6 percent from the field. BG had 11 turnovers in the opening half, leading to nine points for Kent State.
“The first half was probably one of our best defensive halves of the year,” Orr said.
The defensive effort was not the same in the second half as Kent State scored almost at will, hitting on 66.7 percent of its shots from the field (16-of-24).
“In the second half, I just don’t think we came out with the same defensive intensity,” Orr said. “They just got too many easy baskets.
“We allowed guys to get behind us. In a zone, you have got to have eyes in the back of our head,” Orr added.
Porrini and Sherman were the main culprits in the second half. Porrini had nine points and five assists, while Sherman scored 10 points, on 4-of-4 shooting, in the second 20 minutes.
FLASHES FINISH INSIDE
“In the second half, they got the ball to the middle a lot which will break down any defense, especially in the zone. It opens up for their shooters,” Calhoun said. “They got a lot of high-low passes in for the easy dump-down layups and stuff like that.”
Even with Kent State’s hot shooting, the Falcons were able to make it a game, scoring 40 points and shooting 48.3 percent from the field, in the second half. After not shooting a free throw in the first half, BG was 11-of-15 from the line in the second 20 minutes.
In the 14-4 run to gain the tie, Calhoun scored seven of his game-high 15 points; Scott Thomas had four and Mike Dabney added three.
“We just locked in on defense,” Calhoun said about the key to BG’s run. “Even though we made a few turnovers, we just played through it. We just wanted to win and we just kept competing and kept competing.”
In addition to Calhoun’s 15 points and six rebounds, Jordon Crawford finished with 13 points, six assists and three steals with five turnovers, and Dabney had eight points and three rebounds off the bench.
NOTES: Kent State is now 20-10 overall and 11-4 in the MAC East ... There were six lead changes and six ties in the second half ... Calhoun missed the final 12:28 of the first half with two fouls and Thomas missed 18:31 of the first half after two early fouls ... Kent had four players score in double figures with Porrini and Sherman leading the way with 13 points each and Justin Greene contributing a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds ... BG hosts Buffalo Saturday with tipoff at 1 p.m. for the final regular-season men’s game in Anderson Arena ... If Bowling Green beats Buffalo, the Falcons earn a home-game for the first round of the MAC tournament on March 8.
|
