Falcon MBB defeats Oakland for road win

So, BG went on the road and got a nice win last night.  Oakland isn't at the top of their performance, but they were ranked higher than us and a road win is a road win.  

It was a close-fought game the whole way.  Put another way, BG put out a 40-minute competitive effort. BG got the better of it in the first half, leading for 12 minutes (Oakland for only 3), but there were 10 ties.  BG went on a late run to lead by 6 at the half.

The Falcons led for the first 12 minutes of the second half as well, getting it as high as 9. The last 7 minutes were a tense affair. Oakland led by 3 with 2:20 left with Agree scored to cut the lead to 1.  BG got a stop and Chandler Turner scored with 1:31 left to give BG a 1-point lead.  Oakland took the lead back with :59 left on 2 FTs.  BG responded again with :33 left when Turner hit a second-chance basket to put BG up 1 again. 

In probably the decisive moment, Jalen Moore was fouled with :24 left.  He missed the front end of a 1-1 and they had to foul.  It was Curtis and he hit both FTs and then Ayers hit 2 more and BG won by 5.

A nice win, trailing with 2 left.  Tight contest...the kind you want to win.

It was a 71 possession game, which is a good pace for BG.  Both teams were successful on offense.  BG scored 1.22 points per possession and Oakland 1.15 points per possession.

The key stat is BG shot 40% of the FGAs from 3 and made 46%. The last game they shot 3s that well and lost was 2019 against St. John's.

Oakland took 41% from 3FG and made only 29%.  So how it is a close game?  Well, the GG made 65% from 2FG and BG made only 44%.  In fact, OU outshot BG and had a turnover advantage and free throws were tied.

The only factor BG won was rebounding, getting 51% of the offensive rebounds and allowing only 24% to Oakland.  Same thing happened last year...it's a weakness of the 1-3-1 zone and BG got enough from it to win. It was BG's best offensive rebounding game since 2019.

Individually, BG had some strong performances.  Remember, it was a high scoring game.  Ayers III had 26 points, but it came on 8-23 shooting...4 of 17 on 2FGS.  He was 4-6 from 3FG and 6-6 at the line.  Also 4 rebounds.  Not the most efficient night, but BG needs guys who are willing to go for the score on offense, I think.

Chandler Turner double-doubled.  He had 16 with 10 rebounds in 24 minutes.  He was 4-5 from 2FG, 1-1 from 3FG and 5-6 at the line.

Kaden Metheny burst out of his slump, as we knew he would.  On a tempo-free basis, he was BG's best offensive player. He scored 15 on 5 of 9 3FG shooting, but had no assists.  Agree had 12 on 4-8 shooting and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes. And Curtis had a rough 12 on 2 of 4 and 2 of 7 shooting, but had 7 assists over 4 turnovers.

Next up is Wright State on Tuesday.