Falcon MBB Win Thriller at Stroh

And that, my friends, is why we love sports.  For the five times you might sit freezing in the Doyt watching the Rockets score at will against your team, you get a day like that.  What a game.  Big opponent, good crowd, and a game that had us on the edge of their seats for the better part of the contest and then a thrilling finish with a happy ending.  Honestly, I was on a high for hours.  That was a great game.  Thank you to the team for giving us that kind of pleasure.

I'm pretty sure that was what Bill Frack had in mind when he made his gift.  And thank him, too.

So for the first half was generally what was expected.  About six minutes in, FGCU had an 11 point lead and it was still 11 points with 7 minutes left.  BG then turned things around, got the lead down to 3, which is where the half ended on a Plowden dunk.

BG came out and built on the momentum in the second half, taking their first lead just a little over a minute into the game.  What followed was an outstanding half of basketball, with BG leading most of the way, but never by more than 6.

That 6 point lead came with 1:17 left when Dylan Frye nailed a 3.

Brandon Goodwin, who is a great player, came down the floor and drew a foul on Wiggins, his 5th.  Goodwin made both the free throws to cut it to 4 and then they got a steal on the other end and converted it to a hoop and it was down to 2 points with :46 left.

BG got a timeout and had Justin Turner driving to the hoop when he was called for a charge.

With :19 left, BG needed a stop.  They got it.  Goodwin drove to the hoop but couldn't get the ball to fall from close range and Derek Koch snagged the board and was fouled.  He missed both ends of the FTs and then with :06 left on the other end Koch fouled and the Eagles had 2 FTs down 2.

Zach Johnson made both of the FTs and the game had been tied up, with FGCU on a 6 point late run.  There were :05 left.

We had been here before and usually without a great result.

FGCU had been pressing, but on this possession, they went to 3/4 court.  They fed the ball into Dylan Frye who attacked his way up the floor.  I think FGCU expected him to drive to the rim looking for a basket or a foul since the game was tied.  Instead, he pulled up and launched a 3-ball that went down and BG had a 3-point lead with less than a second left and the Falcons had the 83-80 victory.  Players were in the stands shaking hands, there was a buzz in the arena for minutes afterward.  Just a terrific night.

The great thing?  Before those two late baskets, Frye was 1-9 on the night.  Stone cold.  Born shooter.

The crowd was great.  It was a good crowd and they were into the game and it was really loud in the last minute. Coach said that it "almost" was like Anderson.  Here's the point.  If this thing goes the way that it feels like its going, that place is going to be LOUD when its full.  Can't wait.

When we look at the stats, we see what we'd expect, which is a pretty close game.  It was a FAST paced game.  There were 84 possessions in the game.  That's the most possessions in a BG game since at least 2002 and maybe longer...there were whole years when BG never got over 75 or so.  BG is clearly looking to push the pace and they look comfortable doing it to me.

Anyway, beyond that, BG didn't have a great offensive day with .98 points per possession.  The big news is that they held FGCU to .95 points per possession.

Quick note.  This game is an excellent example of why we use tempo-free stats.  Yes, both teams were in the 80s, but they didn't have great offensive nights.  They scored on volumes of attempts.

The biggest thing is what you don't see.  FGCU came in getting 50% of their available offensive rebounds and BG held them to less than half of that.  The other difference was at the line, where BG had 33 attempts and FGCU only 19.  BG made 23 and FGCU 14.  That +9 was more than the difference.  BG got to the line a lot and FGCU had been excelling at that, too.  The Falcons made 70% of their free throws, which is right on national average and an improvement and the key to this one, beyond clutch shooting (52% in the second half).

Individually, Justin Turner had a big night.  He scored 20 points on 6 of 14 and 2 of 3 shooting, plus 6 of 8 on the line, 7 rebounds and 4 steals to go with 5 turnovers.  He also drew innumerable fouls.  Dylan Frye had 15 on the aforementioned 3-11 shooting and 7 of 8 at the line and 6 rebounds.  Wiggins had 14 on 6 of 11 shooting and 7 rebounds.  He struggled in the first half, especially on defense, but Coach said they told him they were going to feed him the ball and he was effective on the offensive end.  He has a nice touch around the basket.

Caldwell had 11 on 5 of 10 shooting and 1 assist.  He played 24 minutes and Cummings played 19.

Derek Koch had 11 rebounds.  Matt Fox had 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 17 minutes.

So, it was a great night.  And this team looks competitive and fun.  They play four games in the next 7 days and it is possible they could win all of them or at least 3.  Looking forward to watching it unfold.