CINCINNATI – When his team needed him the most, it was a redshirt freshman who stepped up in the clutch.
Chris Knight, however, is no ordinary freshman. His play is that of someone way beyond his years.
“Chris has just been tremendous the whole weekend,” said BG coach Louis Orr. “He’s confident, he doesn’t get rattled and he’s a hard worker.”
Knight led the Falcons to a 69-67 victory over Cincinnati in the Peggy Cronin Classic, Sunday night.
The red-shirt freshman finished with a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds. His height and leaping ability were keys to him keeping five possessions alive with his offensive rebounds.
The most important probably being with 38 seconds to play in the game and Knight was able to tip the ball away from three Bearcat defenders. BG was able to secure the ball and keep the possession alive.
“I was just thinking go up and get the ball,” Knight said. “I had seen one of my teammates open and I just wanted to tip it to him and keep the possession alive.”
The Falcons made their free throws down the stretch and were able to come away with the two-point victory.
The victory did not come without its trials and tribulations. The Falcons, maybe feeling the effects of their third game in three days, shot a rocky 37.5 percent from the field in the first half and that was up from 29 percent earlier in the half.
The Bearcats held a 21-13 advantage at the 7:47 mark in the first half. This is when Orr switched to a 2-3 zone and BG went on an 18-4 run to close out the half to make the halftime score of 31-25 in favor of the away team.
“I thought the zone was the difference in the game,” Orr said. “I think we got 12 out of 15 stops in a row and the only points that they scored were on second shots.”
BG came out and shot a blazing 58.3 percent from the field in the second half and made four of the eight 3-pointers that they attempted.
The Falcons seemed to have ice water in their veins late in the game with clutch 3-pointers by Brian Moten and Ryne Hamblet to seal the victory.
Hamblet struggled shooting the ball in the game but was able to make the shots when he needed to. Seven of Hamblet’s eleven points came in the final 1:44.
He was the one with the ball in his hands at the end of the game on the free-throw line and he was able to sink all four tosses.
“I give Bowling Green a lot of credit – I love the guys coaching that team,” said Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin. “It’s a great win for their team but we’re not any good.”
The Falcons finished the tournament with a 2-1 record with victories over UC as well as Belmont on Saturday. The lone loss came to Western Carolina on Friday.
Knight was named tournament MVP. He and Hamblet were both named to the All-Tournament team.
The other members of the All-Tournament team included Andy Wicke and Matthew Dotson from Belmont, Nick Aldridge from Western Carolina and Deonta Vaughn from Cincinnati.
The Falcons will next be in action this coming Saturday when they host Morehead State at 4 p.m.
