Falcons Beat Canisius to Leave Quebec 2-1

It was a nice win for the Falcons, against the audio backdrop of Reggie Witherspoon swearing like a carny.

It was a game Bowling Green deserved to win.  They carried the play most of the way.  And when they let the GGs get close at the end, they made the plays they needed to win the game.  It was a very exciting and a nice win for the boys.

It didn't start out great, with Canisius out to a 6-point lead.  BG had the lead 8 minutes into the half and from there on in it was well contested, with the lead shifting back and forth.  BG led by 6, but the Griffins got the lead back and led by 2 with :32. With :03 left, DJ Smith nailed a 3FG and BG led by 1.

BG carried the play in the second half.  In fact, they lead ALMOST the entire way.  There was still some drama.  The lead was as much as 8 and for most of the half never got to a one-possession game.  BG was up 7 with 3:30 or so to play.  They got 3 stops and failed to extend the lead--which might have put it out of reach.  Two missed Agee FTs in there as well. 

Finally, with 1:38 left, Frank Mitchell scored and and-one for Canisius to cut it to 4. They put the press on.  BG called time out.  BG still turned it over. Mitchell scored again and with 1:25 left it was a 2-point lead.

BG ran the clock way down, got the ball to Spurgin who kicked out to Humphrey who nailed a 3 with :51 left.  Canisius came down and matched it so with :44 left it's still a 2-point game.

Then, with :39 left BG turned the ball over again and Canisius tied the game. 

BG called another timeout.  They ran the clock down to single digits and then Marcus Hill drove to the basket and scored, like he always seems to do.  BG up 2. BG used their full timeout to set the defense up.  Canisius came down, clock is at :05 and Uijtendaal was driving to the basket and Spurgin blocked the shot, got the ball, was fouled and sunk both FTs to close the game out.  BG by 4.

Certainly some mis-execution in that last minute.  But, our guys made big plays on both ends of the floor and picked up a win they deserved to get.

The stats reflect a close game.  It ended up slow at 64 possessions.  BG scored 1.18 points per possession, which is their best of the year and the GGs had 1.14, which is a good night as well.

BG shot 51% and 47%, while Canisius was 50% and 42%. Both teams took great care of the ball. The key number is in the last column.  BG committed only 8 fouls for the game and Canisius shot only 3 FTs. BG made 63%, an improvement, and ended up +11 at the line.

Trey Thomas did not play for BG, who played only 7 guys for the game.  Towns, Spurgin, Humphrey, Hill and Phillip, with Smith and Agee off the bench.

Marcus Hill had another great game.  He is #3 in the MAC in scoring right now.  He had 26 points on 10-20 2FG shooting and 0-1 from 3FG. He was 6 of 8 at the line, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and no turnovers.

Jason Spurgin had this best game as a Falcon.  In the preview, I noted that they didn't have any bigs of his height.  Spurgin scored 17 on 5 of 7 2FG and 1 of 3 3FG shooting, 4 of 5 at the line, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and a blocked shot game winner.

Humphrey had 9 on 3 of 5 3FG shooting.  Towns had 8 points and 7 rebounds.  Phillip had 8 points and 4 rebounds. Agee had 8 rebounds (0-4 at the line). And DJ Smith was +18 in 16 minutes.

One last note.  Simon has brought a tactical element that we have not seen here in a long time.  He will switch zone and man defenses during a game.  Going back pretty far, our coaches were canonical adherents of one approach or the other.  Dakich and Huger played man unless under absolute duress and Orr played only zone.  Don't remember Jans. 

Anyway, it is interesting.  You might to see it more.  For example, with St. Peters was playing Duke in the NCAAs, they switched defenses coming out of the last 4 minute timeout.  You're ahead, and you eat up some of the time by throwing them off balance.

Anyway, an observation.

BG is now 4-3.  They have most of the week off before playing a Southern Indiana team that looks very different from the one we played last year.  Then, 9 days off before a non-D1 game at the Stroh.  The Southern Indiana game is the last road game of the non-conference schedule.