Falcons Win Tight One Over Titans (See what I did there?)

Bowling Green picked up another win yesterday. That's 3 in a row and 5 out of 8.  Yes, I know they are not playing the world's best competition, but I am happy for the wins and I continue to contend that this team is better than it was expected to be...especially when you consider they have played most of the way without Craig Sealey and without Chauncey Orr.

The first half certainly did not start off very well.  Detroit bolted out to a 10-2 lead and then with 8 left had stretched that to 11, at 26-15.  BG was playing very poorly, which has been unusual, especially at home.

BG then went on a 11-1 run over the next three minutes to get the lead back to 1, tied the game a  couple of times without leading and went into halftime trailing by 1.

BG took the lead about 5 minutes into the second half as part of a run that stretched the lead up to 7.  Then Detroit erased the lead and went up 4 with 9 minutes left, setting up a very entertaining final minutes when neither team led by more than 3 the remainder of the way.

Spencer Parker split a pair of FTs to put BG up by 1 with about 2:40 to play.  A minute later, Anthony Henderson picked up a key offensive rebound and stuck it back and BG was up 3.  With 1:22 left, Juwan Howard, Jr. got a FG to cut it  back to 1.

Parker missed two shots in the paint and then Detroit had the ball back.  Pretty big defensive posession here, and BG got a break when Bruinsma travelled in the key, giving the ball back to BG.  Holmes split a pair of free throws, stretching the lead back to 2 with :22 left.

The Titans came down, missed a relatively open 3 but had Howard with the offensive board.  His putback was attempted inside a lot of arms and he missed and Holmes ripped the board down and outletted the ball to Parker before he could be fouled, and BG had found two stops at the end of the game for the win.

Consistent with those two stops, the key difference for BG was on shooting.  BG shot 48% from the field and Detroit shot 38%, which pretty much accounts for the different right there.  Detroit made 8 3s which helped to even out the FG scoring.

Rebounds were relatively even and Detroit was much stronger on the offensive boards.  BG got to the line a lot more, but had another awful FT shooting night at 58%, turning a 12 shot advantage in attempts into 4 for made FTs.

College Basketball Stats

Detroit scored only .93 points per possession, which is significantly below their normal record.  BG was below par as well at .96, so the credit for the win probably goes to the BG defense, which has been pretty good.

I have pointed out BG's inefficient guard play so far this year, so it should be pointed out that this was not the case for this game.  Clarke had 14 points on 5 of 10 shooting and 1-2 from beyond the arc, with 8 assists over 4 turnovers, a very solid line.  Henderson had 15 point on 5 of 10 shooting and 1-2 from 3, adding 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

Holmes was also very effective at 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.  Black had 8 points on 4-4 shooting paired with 8 rebounds.

Spencer Parker has been playing well, but he had an off night with 7 points, all at the free throw line.  He missed all 7 FG attempts.

JD Tisdale is improving a lot.  If Orr and Sealey were healthy I am relatively sure he would not be getting these minutes, but he is making the most of them and the team will eventually benefit.  His game is certainly spotty, but he is making better and better plays, including a Sportscenter quality dunk.

So, BG is now 6-5 with a very winnable game coming up Sunday at Wright State.  Following that it is IPFW at home.  BG stands a very good chance of entering conference play at 7-5 and playing decent basketball.