Well now....that was a thriller. MBB wins.

Well, the MAC opener during the Todd Simon era was a thrilling win before a nice crowd of 2,500 or so with no students.  The crowd was into the game.  BG rallied and pulled the win out, still down 2 regular contributors.  Two great scorers went head to head.  A good time was had by all.

BG started out poorly, as they often have.  It was 6-6, but then for the next five minutes it was 18-4 and EMU led by 14 with 11 to go in the first half.  They led by 10 or more for nearly all of the remainder of the half, with BG cutting the lead to 8 at the end. EMU shot 51%.  BG was 2 of 13 from 3FG.  Both Agee and Spurgin had 3 fouls at the half, and Towns was on the bench. 

BG came out strong--as they often do--and had the lead to 2 before the first media timeout.  BG did not tie the game until about 12 minutes were left and took their first lead with 9:32 left.  From there on, it was a hotly contested, back and forth, one possession game, with Acuff and Hill both making some just ridiculous shots.

One of those came with a minute left to put EMU up by 1.  With :49 left, Agee was fouled and split the pair and Acuff came down and hit a wild runner to put EMU up 2 with :49 left.  Marcus Hill was fouled and sunk both clutch FTs with :26 left.  BG needed to stop to get to overtime.  The Falcons d'd up Acuff hard-even in zone--and he missed a low percentage 3FG and the game went to OT.

BG was 6 of 12 from 3FG in the second half, EMU 0-7.

The OT was tightly played.  With two minutes, EMU was up 1. Agee was fouled and made 2 FTs. BG up 1.  BG was really playing Acuff hard--one of the players said Coach made an adjustment in the zone to force Acuff into a less comfortable spot.  Acuff took a jumper late in the shot clock and Thomas blocked it.  BG came down and Spurgin made a strong drive down the baseline for a layup to make it +3. 

After 2 timeouts, EMU got the ball to Acuff who was fouled and he made both FTs to cut the lead to 1 with :44 to play.

Now it was EMU's turn to D up.  They took BG all the way to the end of the shot clock.  Spurgin took a wild three at the buzzer and missed.  The rebound was on the floor, bodies were flying  Osojnik had the board for EMU and he was sitting on the ground and I didn't see what happened but he was called for traveling,  Huge call. Stan Heath went nuts, but the call stood.

BG is still up 1.  They fouled Humphrey who split the pair.  BG up 2.  EMU gets to half court and calls time with :06 left.  They get the ball to Acuff, BG's on him like crazy.  He goes for a short-range jumper--of which he had made several--and Marcus Hill blocked the shot and BG held on to win.

Wow.  A total thriller.  We had a decent crowd and I love to send them away happy.  They are more likely to come back.

The game was played slow, at an equivalent of 64 possessions for a 40-minute game.  One key note is that BG has Felt and Towns out (and DJ Smith) and so we are very light on the front line.  The lineup we finished the first half with might have been the smallest lineup I ever saw us play.  Spurgin and Agee had 3 fouls at the half.  Agee got his 4th with 3:39 left when the refs rewarded a flop and Spurgin got his 4th with 2 left.  That being said, BG nursed them through and they both finished the game.  

One way BG did that was going to a 2-3 zone.  Ironic against EMU. Anyway, we don't play a bad zone.  EMU attacked it well some of the time and they really finished well, playing the glass to get around Spurgin more than once.

BG won the game at the line.  EMU had very slight edges on the other factors. EMU committed 29 fouls--and only 1 a situational foul at the end. They had 3 guys foul out.  They just seemed determined to put us on the line rather than let us score inside, which is their defensive weakness.  BG is generally a poor FT shooting team, though it has been improving.  To wit, they were 6 of 13 in the first half.  The Falcons were 18 of 25 after that, which is 72% and just a tick over the national average.  Meanwhile, BG only fouled 16 times and EMU was 9 of 14 at the line.  Overall, BG was +15 at the line.

The Falcons cannot be happy with how they rebounded.  Part of that is the zone, but EMU has not been good on the defensive boards and BG did not take advantage last night.

Coming in, we thought it was the Acuff and Hill show and it was.  WOW.  Both guys are magical around the rim, using the glass and the rim itself to get shots in from just ridiculous positions.

Acuff scored 31.  However, he took 29 shots.  He was 12 of 21 from 2FG (57%, which is good) but 1-8 from 3FG.  He only got to the line 5 times. And blocked twice on key possessions.  But not to minimize it, he carried that team in the second half with his shot making.  He makes shots that silence crowds.

Hill scored 35.  This guy.  Let me tell you. He had 22 points on FGs on 28 shots.  That's 50% on 2FG and 2 of 6 from 3FG.  The difference was at the line. He was fouled a lot, even though he came in shooting 79%.  And he made 13 of 17 at the line. Also 8 rebounds and a blocked shot on the game's key possession.

Coach went on quite a bit about Hill's defense. Says he will get paid to play because of his defense.  He's been a great player for us.

Rashaun Agee might have shown the best one-year improvement since...I don't know.  Wiggins? Holmes?  He double-doubled at 17 and 11.  He made 7 of his 8 2FG shots and 5 of 8 from the line. He played in foul trouble for a long time. '

Humphrey had 12 on 3 of 5 from 3FG. Trey Thomas had 10, but struggled with his shot, especially 2-8 from 3FG. He's a key player. He was on the top of the key on those last critical possessions and also he was +8, the best on the team.

Anyway, BG got the win.  Could easily gone the other way and no, EMU doesn't appear to be a great team.  We are heading to the toughest game on our schedule--Akron at the JAR--and then hope for a nice crowd with students back Tuesday for OU.