BG Falcons Win Opener

 BG moved to 1-0 with a win over Air Force last night at the Stroh.  The final was 62-58.  Every win is good for our guys right now.

It didn't start out great, with Air Force going up 12-3 as BG struggled against a match-up zone.  BG battled back and took the lead with 9 minutes left and never trailed again.

They were up 9 with a minute to go in the half and ended up leading by 6.  The second half was very much in that range for the first 12 minutes.  With about 8 left, BG went on a 5-0 to lead by 12.  Air Force chipped away, but BG led by 7 with 3:50 left. 

Air Force rallied hard at this point.  They made a 3 and BG split 2 FTs to make the lead 5 with 2:17 left.

BG got a stop with 1"46 left and really, that should have been it.  But Curtis made a wild charge into the lane and was called for charging when it seemed like pulling the ball out was the play.

AFA had a back door cut going and Mills fouled the guy and he missed the front end.  Another empty possession and with 1:03 left it should be good.

With :36 left Ayers was fouled and BG again split the pair, up 6 now.

With :26 left BG got a steal (game over) but Ayers was called for a double dribble (game not over) and AFA had the ball back.

With :12 left, AFA hit a 3FG to make it a 3-point lead.  They fouled Ayers who missed the first but (thankfully) hit the second and BG had the win locked down.

It was a defensive struggle.  The game had 69 possessions, which Coach felt represented a tempo victory for BG.  The Falcons scored .9 points per possession, but allowed Air Force only .84.  I felt like it was a much improved defensive performance.  We were all worried about whether BG could play deep into possessions with the eye for detail it takes to defend the Princeton offense, but AFA did not score on a back-door cut for the whole game.  

They were forced to take 62% of their FGs from 3FG...the highest in the kenpom era against BG...and  made 35% (which is about average) and then 48% from 2FG.

With all that, they actually outshot BG.  BG made 44% of its 2FGs and 30% of its 3FGs.  

The key difference in the game was FTs.  Air Force attempted only 4 FTs for the game while BG attempted 19, making only 12.

BG had a slight lead on turnovers and did not offensive rebound well at all.  Neither did Air Force, who does not crash the boards at all.

Leon Ayers scored 16 for BG on 6 of 12 shooting, 4 rebounds and 4 turnovers. Curtis had 14 on 6 of 13 and 1 of 5 shooting.  Agee had 13 of 3 of 9 shooting (7 of 9 at the line) and 7 rebounds.

BG had 9 players go for 10 minutes or more.

Less positive notes...Kaden Metheny is really struggling. We know he can play, but right now it is rough going. Gabe O'Neal started both halves but logged only 5 minutes and 3 fouls.

Overall, Coach said after the game that there was a different feel than in past years. The team seemed more energetic and more cohesive, just based on observation.  There was way more involvement by the bench in the game. It was downright noisy during first half possessions against the Princeton.  There was also laughter on the bench.  I hope this is a good sign.  In the past, I have felt like we were less than the sum of our parts.

There is a lot of room for improvement.  There were some terrible passes with players dribbling into a hole and flinging the ball out.  And the team needs to work to find more consistent scoring in the half-court...there were possessions that were tough to watch.

But a win is a win.

Next up is Oakland and their 1-3-1.