And the beat Zips on...

And that's what long losing streaks are made of.

Last night, BG controlled play for most of the game.  More than once they had leads over 10 points...and with one minute left they led by 4.  Beyond that, they had 3,800 fans in the house--3rd largest for MBB in Stroh history--and it was rocking when it came down the stretch.

Akron is who they are because they know how to win.  They stayed close and stole the game.  They are used to winning and they expect to win and they execute at their highest level when winning is on the line, even in front of a howling, hostile crowd.

That is where we want to get.

Our guys played hard and for much of the game played really well.  They were a couple of plays short and failed to execute effectively in the last minute or so and that cost us the game.  BG has to learn from that and get better.  We are light years from where we were last year, but closing out Akron in a game like this is on the to-do list.

BG had plenty of opportnity to win the game.  With about 1:30 left, BG had a 2-point lead and the ball.  Obviously, that's a dagger situation, but the Falcons turned the ball over.  Akron rushed a 3FG up and BG had the ball back.  Jovon Austin took advantage of Forsythe having fouled out and drove to the rim for a basket.

BG was now up 4 with 1:04 left.  From here on in, things were less pretty.  Noah Robotham found himself wide open and drilled a 3 to make it a 1 point lead with :50.  Akron had been applying full court pressure for most of the game and BG struggled with it.  Obviously, they kept it on in this situation.  BG got the ball in to Henderson but he was immediately trapped and had to call time out.

Even out of the time out, BG struggled with the pressure.  A 10-second call was looming and Zack Denny was on the sideline and he tried to pass the ball straight up the court and Akron anticipated the pass and stole it.  That was probably the single biggest play of the game.  If BG gets up court and even just eats clock it is a different game, and if they score obviously everything is different.

Instead, Akron had the ball.  Off a time out, BG again failed to defend Robotham and he drove to the basket for a layup to but Akron up 1 with :25 left.  Operating without a time out, Austin came down the court and was driving for the basket again.  This time Akron fouled him and with :17, Austin had 2 shots.

He made them both, so BG also lead by 1 with :17 left.  One stop to win the game.  Akron had no timeouts so they came straight down.  Robotham once again drove to the hoop--this time he was contested and missed a close shot...now BG is literally one rebound from victory.  That rebound, however, went to BJ Gladden who got the put back and UA led by 1.

BG had 3.9 left and called time.  They set up a play for Richaun Holmes to run the floor and he got about as far as the 3-line and then launched a weak shot.  He might have slipped, Jans thought he was fouled but you don't see guys running down the floor out of control heaving a desperation shot get bailed out with that call very often.

It was heartbreaking for me, I can only imagine how the team feels.  Check out how much the orange line is above the blue line...except, of course, at the end.

NCAA Basketball

Statistically, it looks like what it was, which was a pretty close game.  First, keep in mind that it was a relatively fast paced game with 70 possessions.  Coach Jans talked after the NIU game about BG needing to run a little better off misses...if the half court is going to be a grind, it makes sense to try and get some baskets in transition and in the case when Akron can't press.  With that in mind, both teams had rough offensive nights.  Akron had .99 points per possession and BG had .97.

Akron shot 41% and 27%...it is worth nothing that Akron took 57 overall shots and 33 of them were from beyond the arc.  That's just incredible.  Even when BG had Spencer Parker in the post, they didn't really seem to want to feed it down there too much.  Anyway, BG went 39% and 29%, so just a little bit less effective.

BG had two more turnovers--both of which came in the last 90 seconds--and Akron had a decisive edge on the boards.  BG kept the game close at the FT line.  Akron plays very physically and then screams bloody murder at every foul.  They had 23 fouls to BG's 19 and the Falcons tried 28 FTs and Akron 22.  I noted in the pre game that Akron is a poor FT shooting team and they made 64% and BG made 79%.  The Falcons were +8 at the line.

One last thing.  One thing I have liked about BG this year is I think we have finished at the rim better, but that was not the case last night.  BG shot 45% from 2FG compared to 58% for the Zips.  BG just seemed to miss 5-6 shots right at the rim and those would have been decisive as well.

NCAA Basketball

Individually, BG had struggles inside.  Richaun Holmes was sick and was really gutting it out.  He had 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting and 7 rebounds.  He battled foul trouble in addition to his health and played only 24 minutes.  BG didn't play Mayleben or Gomez, which meant the inside presence really consisted of Holmes and Dickerson.  Dickerson played hard and scored 8 in 15 minutes before fouling out, but BG was just short of bodies in the paint.

Anthony Henderson had a very efficient night, with 10 point on 3-3 shooting and 3 rebounds.  Spencer Parker had 9 but on 3 of 8 shooting.  Zack Denny had a rough night, as noted above and then scored 8 on 1 of 8 shooting and the rest on FTs.  He did have 7 rebounds.  BG played a really short rotation...only 8 guys, which could have also played a role in the execution issues at the end.  Akron had 11 players get 10 minutes or more and beyond Robotham, no player played more than 27.


For Akron, the key was Pat Fosythe.  He doubled his average with 20 points on 6 of 8 shooting and 8 of 10 at the line and 7 rebounds in 24 freaking minutes before fouling out in what, based on his body language, might have been the greatest injustice of all time.

So, BG is now 5-3 in MAC play and one game out of first and facing 2 on the road, first at CMU and then at NIU.  If you are hoping to stay in the running for a bye, this is clearly a big week.  The MAC season is an absolute grind and I believe it usually does a  pretty good job of revealing who you are.