Falcons End Tournament with Loss to Zips

So, I got home about 3 AM last night, and then had some work to do this morning and when I got home it was nap time for a little while. Now, back at the keyboard, it has been approximately 18 hours since the Akron game ended, and it is still just a shame it had to end that way.

What brought the Falcons down was something that caused it problems from time to time throughout the season--going long periods of time without scoring consistently.

This was a problem in the second Akron game at the JAR...BG had six points with about six minutes LEFT in the first half. In that game, the Falcons finished hard and actually led at the half, erasing a 10-point deficit in those last six minutes.

Last night at the Q, it was Akron who finished hard up to halftime, heading into the locker room with an 11 point lead.

The Falcons are tremendously resilient though, and came out strong in the second half. It seemed like we got it down to six a few times, but couldn't get it closer, but we kept playing and actually led by three just inside 8:00 to go. It seemed like we spent all our energy getting that far, in the last eight minutes they scored 23 points (wow!) to our 12, and that was all there was to that.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Bowling Green shot 20% in the first half from the field with no threes to dig the hole they were in, and even though we shot 44% in the second half and had 38 points, it just wasn't enough.

If you want a turning point, with a little over four minutes left, Akron had a three point lead and missed a free throw. For a second, you could feel some energy, because the game was still within a possession. But the rebound went out to Akron, and McNees drained a 3 and all of a sudden it was a six point deficit. Akron got a stop and another basket to be up 8 with about 3 left, and the die was cast for the game ending script.

(Speaking of McNees, you have to give him credit. Humpty Hitchens has been carrying this team, but he's injured, and they slot this McNees guy in, and he plays a very competent game at the point).

As you can see below, Akron dominated most facets of the game. They shot better than we like teams to, especially from 3, and they killed us on the boards, along with making the most out of a lot of free throw attempts.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Nate Miller ended the game with a career high 27 points, which is impressive on its own, but even more impressive when you consider that he was the only Falcon consistently scoring, and Akron knew it. We only had 55 for the whole game, making Nate nearly half of our offense. He had 25 of our 38 in the second half---again, without the element of surprise. They weren't letting him drive, and he switched his game and started to hit from the outside.

There is no reason to name names, except to say that everyone else's shooting was pretty dreadful. We missed lots of zero footers, and shot some serious bricks from the field, too.

Akron really struggled with the 2-3 in our second meeting, and we have been playing some killer D out of that, but in the first half they showed that they are a team that can adapt and learn, as they attacked the zone and scored pretty consistently against it. In the second half, BG went man-to-man, which was no more effective in the end analysis.

Our guys really played hard, and they were clearly crushed when they left the floor. A couple thoughts on that.

First, Akron is a good team. Brett McKnight is going to be a very good MAC player, Linhart has some skills and Chris McKnight was also very tough on the inside. Dambrot is a good coach and this is a good program. I'm not sure how their record wasn't better than it was, but Akron is a very solid MAC team.

Second, I think all Falcon fans should be very proud of the success our team had this year. We are only two years removed from a period where we were 7--27 over two years in MAC play, and for this team to compete as we did was pretty impressive. I think it might have taken the fans as long as it did the players to get used to what kind of game we were going to play, but I do think the Nation learned to appreciate our style.

As I always say, my favorite style of basketball is winning.

I would be tempted to root for Akron, but a bunch of their fans ran into the bathroom after the game and taunted some BG fans, so I'll be rooting for Buffalo.

As I wrote earlier, despite the end to the season, I am very proud of our team and how we progressed this year, and I give all of them credit for the hard work and perseverance it took to get them this far. It was an enjoyable season.

PS--I know there is an NIT game left, and that's a nice honor and reward for our guys. Still, the main season--and the goals we started with--have come to an end.