With 16:02 left in the first half, Miami led the BG men’s basketball team with a score of 12-2. In just a shade under four minutes of play, yesterday’s game had all the look and feel of the 80-44 drubbing that occurred in Akron on Sunday.
The Falcons were struggling to run an effective half-court offense, and Miami hit five shots in a row to open up the 10-point margin. Visions of Akron’s Quade Milum and Jeremiah Wood may have been dancing in
people’s heads.
With 13:20 to play in the first half, Miami guard Alex Moosman drained a three-pointer in front of the BG bench to make the score 15-4. The RedHawks were soaring in Anderson Arena.
But then the Falcons regrouped and took flight, and Miami was suddenly playing the role of wounded bird.
“Our guys really showed a lot of character,” said BG head coach Louis Orr. “We went down early. We had a slow start. But we showed a lot of determination and we didn’t quit.”
BG got on a roll of its own and went on a 20-4 scoring run. Ten minutes after being in position to let the game slip early, the Falcons had taken the lead 22-19.
After Miami burned them in their man-to-man defense, BG switched into a zone and took control of the game. The 55-52 BG victory was one of execution and, especially, defense.
BG forward Nate Miller scored 15 points in the game and really stepped up as a team leader. He had 10 points in the final eight minutes of the game and helped the offense execute in the clutch.
“When it was my turn to take the shots, I’ve been working on those shots all year and they fell for me tonight,” Miller said. “When shots like that fall for you it gives you all the confidence in the world to make the next play.”
“My confidence was very high and I made the plays at the end of the game,” he said.
Forward Chris Knight and guard Darryl Clements also executed when it mattered most. Clements shot 3-5 from beyond the arc and finished the game with 15 points. Knight made plays at both ends. He finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
The biggest factor in the win was BG’s stifling defense after Miami’s early run in the first half.
“Miami, they take up most of the [shot] clock when they’re on offense,” Miller said. “We stayed in our [defensive] stance and stayed solid throughout the possession and followed our gameplan. Our coaches put together a great gameplan for us to go by.”
“We stuck with it and stayed in our stance for the whole 35 seconds and got stops,”
he said.
As a team, BG forced Miami into only seven turnovers, but made it difficult for their opponents to get many open shots. The Falcons had seven steals and four blocked shots.
For a game that started out looking a lot like the Akron contest from Sunday evening, yesterday’s matchup with Miami suddenly turned into a BG victory of execution and inspired defense. What a difference three days make.
“We didn’t quit. We got it done on the defensive end and we got stops,” Orr said. “I thought Nate [Miller] showed outstanding leadership.”
“It was a team win, but I applaud Nate’s leadership,” he said. “I thought they showed great character today.”