Falcons Trudge Past Storm

The Falcons won their 21st straight opener with a underwhelming, though never in doubt, performance against the DII Lake Erie Storm 63-53.  The Storm were picked to finish 6th in the South Division of the GLIAC.

BG had huge struggles on the offensive side of court.  Only Jordon Crawford...who netted 22...was in double figures.  The team shot 33% for the game from the field and only 27% in the second half...only 22% from beyond the arc (and 1-12 when you take Crawford out), made only 60% of their free throws and made 14 turnovers.  That's a pretty sad offensive effort.

In fact, free throws were the difference in the game.  BG only shot 60%, but that was on 35 attempts, which means they made 21, and Lake Erie only made 8 (out of 14).

BG also won the rebounding battle with 44-35, with 20 offensive rebounds that you would expect to have led to more points.  Orr and Calhoun both had 7 rebounds to lead the team.

Richaun Holmes continues to impress.  In only 22 minutes, he had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

Cam Black did play, getting 10 minutes as he works his way back from injury.

Also, I'm not sure what happened to trying to get the ball into the paint, but I don't think BG was very effective at it in this game.

Coach said after the game they he wanted to have a team that could gut out a win when they weren't playing well, and I suppose that's one way to look at it.  Based on our two opening games with DII teams, I think it is clear the Falcons have a long way to go.  I always say you can't tell much when you play DII teams, but I usually mean you can't really tell how good you are.

The question for the Falcons is the same as it was when the season started.  Who is going to score for this team?  Beyond Crawford, who is off to a great start, who is going to get the ball into the basket on a consistent basis?  Right now there's only 1.

I listed a bunch of player-based question marks on my pre-season list and with the exception of Holmes, I don't think even one of them is flipping up on the positive.

Now, there is a long way to go.  Guys could get better, especially as they are adapting to their new roles.  We will find out soon.  Monday's game in Ann Arbor against Cleveland State will be a very good test for our team.  They were very good last year, lost a bunch of guys but played very strong defense.  If they bring a defensive style, BG could find them very difficult to beat.

I know its only two games....but so far, there have been no surprises.