Falcons Wake Up, Defeat Findlay

With about three minutes left in the first half, the game between BG and Findlay was what I had feared.  Findlay--with a strong contingent of fans in the house--was up 9 on the Falcons, who had apparently not taken seriously Coach Huger's warning that Findlay can play.  They were hitting WIDE open 3s as well as back door layups, all off a motion defense that BG was not willing to defend.

BG then woke up.  They scored the last 9 points of the first half and the first 7 of the second half (in 82 seconds) and then played suffocating defense against the Oilers.  The lead got over 10 with 16 left and never got inside 10 again.  In fact, the lead got as high as 29 and BG won 82-57 in the end.

Findlay actually had played on Saturday, so that's a tough back-to-back, but BG did a nice job putting pressure on the team and showing effort on the defensive end to get the win...which is what should have happened, but had to be done.

BG is 5-0 for the first time ever at the Stroh.  The 2008-9 team was the last to start this way...in fact, they went 6-0.  It was the second Louis Orr team and a team that went on to win the regular season title, though that's not a comparison we probably want to get too hung up on.

BG hasn't won back-to-back games over 25 points since 1996-97.  The wins were over Tiffin and @Wright State...that team also was a MAC Co-Champ in the regular season and played in the NIT for Larranaga's last year.  Same thing on the comparisons.

The best thing about the two games is that BG has found its shooting touch.  Coming into the Green Bay game, BG had hit in the low 20's from 3FG for four straight games, but now BG has two straight games over 40.  They won't play on the road again until they are at Kent on January 5, so we're going to have to see if the gains can translate to the road.  But, for now, the ball is going in.

BG ended up with 1.16 points per possession.  They shot 48% from 2FG and 42% from 3FG--on only 19 attempts, which I think is part of the key.  We need to be a team that attacks the rim and then makes the 3s off the penetration.  If we "settle" for 3s, they don't usually seem to fall.  BG took excellent care of the ball, had a good if not great offensive rebounding game and got to the line A LOT.

The first half free throw shooting was putrid...6 of 14, which is bad, but then missed shots were falling off the side of the rim, bricks off the phlange...it was not good.  BG did make 12 of 16 in the second half and for the game outscored Findlay 18 to 4 at the FT line.

On defense, BG held Findlay to .8 points per possession.  They shot 24% in the second half--with about 7 minutes left they had only 10 points.  For the game, they shot 33% from 2 FG and from 3FG and took good care of the ball.  BG dominated the glass at that end and, as mentioned, they rarely found their way to the FT line.

Individually, Justin Turner continues to shine.  He scored 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting, 5 of 5 at the line, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.  Young man is a player.  Also, in that 16-0 run, Turner had 10 of the points, which is something you see pretty often.  He can take over. 

Dylan Frye was also very effective, hitting 5-5 from 3  FG, scoring 16 points and adding 3 assists.  Wiggins had 14 points and 8 rebounds, so he missed a double-double.  He shot 6 of 11 from the field but was 2 of 5 from the line.  He played only 22 minutes due to foul trouble.  Daeqwon Plowden had 9 points and 9 rebounds.  Uju had 11 points and 8 rebounds, making all 3 of this FGs and getting to the line 8 times.

BG's also got strong minutes from Marlon Sierra.  He's a tough inside player, can shoot the jumper.  He played 12 minutes, I'd suspect he'll get more when MAC play starts.  BG did start Plowden and Fields again...Lillard played only 11 minutes.

Next up is Western Carolina at 1 pm on Friday, which is strange.  Anyway, BG is now 6-5 with 2 non-D1 wins.