Nothing lasts forever, and the Falcon's record-setting MAC road run came to an end in Millett Hall in a low-scoring (to say the least) contest.
Bowling Green was up 3 in the final minutes when Otis Polk fouled Michael Bramos in the act of shooting a three, perhaps the biggest play of the game. Bramos made two out of his 3 free throws, and Bowling Green came upcourt with a one point lead.
A basket here is pretty huge, but we didn't get a good shot off, and Miami came down floor. They ended up with an inbounds and were able to get a layup off a set play, and that gave them the lead.
Still, the Falcons had the ball with the shot clock off, but were unable to get a good shot again, and then the Falcons had to commit three quick fouls just to get into the bonus. Bramos hit two FTs with 7.8 left to give Miami a three point lead.
This set up some buzzer beating heroics. The Falcons came up floor, and freshmen Scott Thomsa hit a three as time expired and forced overtime.
Just so we know what we are talking about, the game went to over tied at 40-40. Yes, that is a game in 2009, not 1939.
Miami scored the first five points of the overtime, and never trailed. BG had the ball down 2 with just under 2 minutes to play, but couldn't get over the top, and Bramos was money from the line coming down the stretch.
It was a lot like the Akron game in that the Falcons shot really badly early on (28.6% in the first half) but then shot 50% in the second half, while holding Miami to 33% for the game. Miami was 4-24 from beyond the arc for the game.
Despite shooting better (if not well), the Falcons were finally done in by their inability to take care of the ball. BG made 18 turnovers in the game. When you are having that much trouble scoring, turnovers are just a killer. With just a few of those possessions converted, this might have been the game that kept the Falcon road streak going.
Nate Miller had 12 points and a career high 16 rebounds (there were plenty of missed shots flying around). The turnover problem was pretty well distributed among four different guys.
One thing really hampering us is that we are short-handed. With Larson out and Knight still not back, the Falcons really ran a six man rotation, and it is possible that we eventually ran out of gas. Furthermore, Otis fouled on in late regulation, straining our bench even more.
Miami played a pretty tight rotation too. Miami is a good team, in good position to win the MAC, and playing on their home floor. We took them to overtime, and had our chances even in the extra frame. In the end, two teams were having trouble scoring, and BG just couldn't score when they needed it.
First thing in the morning I will have the various permutations up. If BG can beat OU, things still turn out pretty well, and we could still win the regular season title, though our very best chance would have been to win this one tonight.
We had our chances, but it didn't work out this time. Lete's hope we can put together a nice big home crowd and rally the Falcons past OU Senior Day Sunday.
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