Falcons Continue to Dig Hole

Last night's game can be explained pretty simply, which is just that the RedHawks are a winning team, and made the plays they needed.

After a tight first half, they blew to a big lead by getting the first 11 points of the second half. Things stabilized from there with 10 left, they were still up 13. Showing some significant resilience, the Falcons scored the next 11 points over 3:00 or so, obviously scoring and getting s0me stops. (Nate Miller had six of those points, and the run included two old-school three point plays and one bomb).

Play was tight from there on in. Nate hit another 3 to cut the lead to one with about 3:00 left, but Miami had one of those long possessions and ended up with Bramos missing a 3, but the RedHawks grabbed the board, and their Sasquatchy center got the hoop and foul and converted. From there, it was never a one possession game again.

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What would have happened if BG had won that battle of the boards, and come back down the floor down 1 with a chance to take the lead, and get the mojo going at home? Who knows? Miami can be stifling on defense.

But that's not what happened. Miami made the play and won the game.

It wasn't the only time. If there was one difference between our team and theirs is that Miami is absolutely deadly when they get around the basket. They shot 55% for the game, and finished really well around the basket. Our guys....ah, not so much. We just don't convert in the vicinity of the basket like we need to in our offense. As hard as we work for shots, to miss those has just got to suck the life out of the team.

It wasn't a terrible performance. You certainly wish we had come out of the locker room stronger, but we had our own run in their too and got the game back within reach. We didn't foul as much, and took care of the ball, at least in the second half.

One thing I noticed. We won the rebounding battle 19-9 in the first half and then virtually reversed those numbers in the second half. I'd have to go back and look, but that isn't the first time that's happened this year. We have been struggling to sustain that effort over the past few games, at least.

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Obviously, you knew this was going to be a tough one. Miami is a battle-hardened team that plays their style really, really well. They also have a very good player in Michael Bramos, and their defense is very solid, and they always seem to have another defensive gear when the game is on the line.

And that's what winning teams have, and based on the MAC schedule, we are not there yet.

The Falcons are now 1-3 in the MAC. When you start with 3 of 4 at home, you can't afford to go 1-3. Especially for a team already struggling on the road. With 12 MAC games left, and only five of them at home, it doesn't take a Math Major to figure out that even a .500 record will be an accomplishment right now, and something along the lines of last year's 13-17 is not impossible. (For the record, we lost only two conference games at home last year total, and won only one road game).

Yes, I know we might feast on the East a little, but then again, so will everyone else.

But, that's how things stand right now. This is a marathon race, and there is time to try and rectify this situation. I don't think we are as bad as we look right now. Certainly, a season that is not improved over last year, with all of our players returning, would be a serious disappointment.