BG had rallied from way back...the Falcons never led in the game at any point...and with about 9 seconds left Jehvon Clarke nailed a miracle bank-shot 3 to tie the game. Akron had time outs and most teams would call one, but Dambrot trusted his guys and just let it roll and Quincy Diggs nailed a cold-blooded long jumper to win the game for the Zips.
Ouch. That's how you do it. It wasn't the first shot that the Zips made down the stretch, but it was the most important one.
BG did what it seems to do a lot lately, which is fall into a big hole right out of the gate. BG was down 6-0 and trailed by 10 or more for the most of the last 10 minutes of the first half before getting it to 9 just before the break.
BG then did what they also seem to do, which is to fight back. BG got the lead down to 4, Akron pushed it back up to 10 with about 9 minutes left in the game. BG went on an 8-1 run to get it to 3 with 6:38 left. It kind of bounced around there for a few minutes and BG got it to 1 with about 3 minutes left. BG was down 2 with 1:14 left. Akron got a put back to go up 4.
Spencer Parker was fouled and the ball appeared to be goaltended, but the refs did not give the +1 and he missed the front of the 1-1 ( meaning that the foul must have been on the floor), and he missed it and that set up the sequence I listed above.
Statistically, it was as close at it could be. BG held Akron to 1.02 points per possession while stepping up to .98 themselves. It was just one possession short.
The shooting was pretty much even and both teams had a bad game with turnovers. BG got to the line 9 more times than Akron did but didn't shoot very well, netting out only +6. The true difference was offensive rebounding. Akron just devastated BG on the offensive glass and that got them 7 more shots than BG and 3 more FGs and 2 more 3FGs and that was enough for the narrow difference.
Jehvon Clarke had a good scoring game for BG. He had 19 points on 8 of 14 shooting, which is a good night. Ball-handling was not so good, as he had 4 assists over 6 turnovers. His outside shot is not always there but I would love to see him drive to the basket more...he is very difficult to defend when he does.
Richaun Holmes had a double-double, with 14 points and 13 rebounds. He was also incredibly efficient, making 4-5 FGs and 6 of 7 FTs. He had 4 steals, 3 blocks and 3 turnovers. And...one show-stopping dunk in the first half.
Spencer Parker had a struggling 12 points on 4 of 11 shooting. Even so, when he is on the BG offense is a different story. Finally, Cam Black showed a lot of offensive energy, with 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting.
So, BG falls to 4-6 in the MAC and right now is fighting for the a home berth in the tourney. Also, they have only 3 home games remaining in the last 8. They will get the opportunity for a couple of road wins as they play @Kent and @Ball State this week. They have beaten OU and WMU on the road, played UT and Akron tough, beat Buffalo...it would be great to see them build on those performances and turn them into a couple road wins.
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