Falcon MBB Escapes Ignomy

This is one of those games where you say this....the only worst thing would have been to lose.

Lake Erie College, a DII not well regarded even in their own conference, came into the Stroh last night and gave BG everything it could handle, with the Falcons eventually winning 109-106 in overtime of all things.

The Storm absolutely shredded the BG defense.  It was incredible.  Actually, on a lesser scale you could see the same thing in the South Dakota game.  The Coyotes were able to drive to the rim almost at will, and the same thing happened with Lake Erie.  Once they had the penetration, they did a great job moving the ball, even in tight spaces to find someone who was wide open.

They had a scorching hot shooting game on top of it.  They shot 56% from 3 FG, which is the most BG has allowed since a Kent game in 2015, which was the Chris Jans year.  We've played a lot of good teams in that stretch and no one shot that well another time.

So, part of it was hot shooting.  But part of it, according to Coach Huger, was BG not having defensive intensity and not having regard for the opposition, who came to play.  You could see it.  In overtime, when BG focused, they did manage to get a couple of stops and disrupt the offensive flow.

Look, you can't put too fine a point on this.  BG took at 14 point lead in the 2nd half and you kind of felt like order had been restored but then Lake Erie actually rallied to force OT.  When the clock hit 1:00 in overtime, the Storm was ahead.  Wiggins got a steal that led to a Frye layup and BG was up 1.  The Falcons got a stop and Wiggins grabbed the board and nailed both FTs with :24 left.  And the Storm still had one possession, but BG actually D'd up a little and they only got off a weak 3 which missed and BG had pulled off the win.

Here's the key quote:  "I'm happy that we can learn a lesson in a victory." – Coach Huger

Here you can see what we going on.  It was a 78 possession game.  BG had 1.25 points per possession, which is the most since the UT game last year and LEC had 1.22, a figure that BG eclipsed 6 times last year.  BG also shot really well--the only comparable game last year was the UT game.  BG erased (barely) the Lake Erie shooting by taking much better care of the ball, generating a couple extra possessions on the offensive boards and going +9 at the line.  BG was 24 of 36 and the Storm was 15 of 18.

Demajeo Wiggins had 25 points on 8 of 15 rebounds to go with 7 assists.  He was 9 of 12 at the line.  Dylan Frye had 19 on 6 of 14 and 3 of 9 shooting and 6 assists.  Caldwell had 18 and 8 assists.  Fox and Cummings each had 12.  Fox was 4-5 from 3FG.  Uju had 10 rebounds and Plowden had 8.

One other note.  Justin Turner did not play due to an ankle issue.  He was wearing a boot at the game.  Hopefully, he is better for the three games coming up on the weekend, but that could be tough with three games in three days.  Coach said after the game that Turner is our best defensive player....and we know what he does on offense....so let's hope he heals up.