Falcon MBB lose to Abilene Christian

Well, the sweep in the Creek was not to be, as BG lost to Abilene Christian 88-83 to round out the event.  Still, a 2-1 weekend is good for the Falcons.  Very tough for a team this young to win three games in a row, much less three on consecutive days.  As I have said before, there's a lot to learn about this team as they face more difficult competition, but 5-2 is an excellent way to start.

The first 10 minutes were competitive, with ACU leading 19-18.  The Wildcats went on a 9-0 run to go up 10 and they maintained a comfortable lead until the final 2 minutes of the half when BG got it down to 4 before ACU got 2 straight hoops to be up 8 at the half.

They were still up 8 about six minutes into the second half, BG went on a 6-0 run to get it to 2.  BG then tied the game on a Koch layup and then Nelly Cummings hit a 3 and BG had its first lead of the second half with 10:30 left.  The next 7 minutes were highly competitive, with lead changes and tie scores.  ACU finally went up 6 just inside 3 minutes left.

With 2 minutes left, Clutch Caldwell hit a 3FG to get the lead to 3 and BG got a stop and had a chance to tie the game but Frye missed his 3FG.  After a foul, ACU split the FTs to go up 4.  Caldwell hit a layup to make the deficit 2 with :34 left.  BG really needed a stop, but the Wildcats got loose and Jalone Friday dunked one home with :28 to put the Cats up 4 again.  Caldwell raced down and with :23 left nailed a trey.

Still BG had to foul and ACU made both their FTs to go back up 3.  Caldwell missed a shot in the paint, ACU rebounded and made both of the next set of FTs and that was the margin of victory.

So, you win 2 and you're still alive in the last minute of the third game.  You can't complain too much about that.  Coach noted after the game that this is a learning experience for the Falcons, pointing out that teams that win the MAC tournament have to win on consecutive days.  He said that BG's issue is mental toughness, not the physical part, and that the young team needs to improve.

The other notable thing from the post-game is that BG played a 2-3 zone, which Coach said is in our normal package...and he had seen USC-Upstate use a zone against ACU, so he thought it might work.  His view was it worked for a while, but the Wildcats figured it out.  (My note.  It is a tough thing to go to once in a while.  Upstate plays it all the time, so they are proficient at it.)

Coach also identified the key issue.  BG played terrible defense.  ACU scored 1.25 points per possession, which was slightly better than Lake Erie had against us.  BG had an excellent offensive game at 1.17 points per possession, their best non-Lake-Erie game of the year.  As Coach said, it is just tough to win when you never get any stops.

As you can see, ACU outshot BG significantly.  BG was able to even things out (almost) with a much better day on the offensive boards and a good day getting to the line, making 68% of their FTs and ending up +1 at the line.

Rodrick Caldwell had what Coach called a "coming out party" in NC.  Now, the challenge, he said, is not to leave it there.  He scored 25 on 9/16 and 6 of 9 shooting, to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists over 2 turnovers.  Dylan Frye had 12 points, going 6 of 12 from the field overall but 0-4 from beyond the arc.  Justin Turner scored a tough 12, on 3 of 14 and 0 of 3 shooting.  Coach said his ankle continues to bother him.

Wiggins battled foul trouble and had 9 points in only 16 minutes.  Koch had 7 rebounds and Plowden scored 8 with 5 rebounds off the bench.  Cummings had 7 points.

Next up is San Jose State, a team that is off to an awful start.  Love to see BG get right back on the winning side at the Stroh on Wednesday.