Falcon MBB Lose to Norfolk State

Well, BG is coming back from Norfolk with a win and a loss, after falling to Norfolk State last night.  Norfolk is a veteran team and a conference champion, but you'd still view losing three straight to them as telling.

BG started out playing really well.  I felt like they were playing with energy and they were making shots.  With 8 minutes left in the first half, BG led by 11.  That was the high point.  The Spartans had the lead down to 4 at the half and then BG came out pretty flat in the second half while NSU was playing hard and five minutes into the half, they led BG by 6.  So, that's a 13 minute swing of 17 points.

In all, NSU led for the last 16 minutes.  BG didn't fold...with 1:00 left the lead was only 2.  BG got the stop they needed and Agee was fouled going for the board.  Unfortunately, he missed the front end of a 1-1 and the Spartans had the ball back.

NSU was not in the bonus yet, so BG had to foul them twice.  When they did, NSU made their 2 FTs to go up 4 with :20 left.  BG missed a 3FG and a showtime dunk for NSU left with the final margin of 6.

It was a 69 possession game, more in BG's realm than NSU's.  BG scored 1.09 points per possession, which is a reasonable effort, but BG allowed 1.18 points per possession.  The Falcons have not won a game at that level of defense since the UT win at the Stroh in 2020.

The game was actually close in the statistics. BG outshot NSU by a little. As expected, BG took half of their shots from 3FG (52%) and made 38% and they made 57% of 2FGs. It was their best shooting game of the season.  Norfolk shot 56% from 2FG and 36% from 3FG...with a lot fewer 3FGs. Norfolk had a slight advantage on turnovers and on the boards.  There were hardly any FTs, but Norfolk was plus 2 in the game overall.

Individually, it was the Kaden Metheny night.  He's been injured and he's been in a weeks-long shooting slump, but you knew he was capable of this. He had 28 points on 2-2 from 2FG and 8-14 from 3FG.  He last made 8 3FGs in 2021 against EMU.

Samari Curtis double-doubled, with 11 points and 10 assists.  That's a career high in assists.  He also had 5 rebounds. Ayers had 10 on 4 of 6 and 0 of 3 shooting.  Agee led the team with 6 rebounds in 16 minutes...his playing time hampered by being in foul trouble most of the time he was on the floor.

Next up is TN-Martin and then two non-D1 games.  BG could hit MAC play at 7-6, which would probably be a little misleading.