Second-half troubles once again plagued the BG men’s basketball team last night.

Miami opened the second half on a 11-0 run and never relinquished the lead to beat the Falcons 67-60.

The Falcons never led, and were down by as many as 15 in the second half, but cut the lead to one with 3:01 to play. Miami scored the next seven points to pull away for the win.

However, head coach Louis Orr was pleased with some of what he saw late in the game.

“I liked that we played with some desperation and we fought back in the second half,” he said.

Nate Miller led the Falcons with 17 points and added five rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Starting for the first time this season, Miller added a positive presence on the floor.

“We know we have to keep our heads up and keep fighting,” Miller said. “It’s always tough when you lose, but you can’t beat yourself up too bad over it.”

This is BG’s third straight loss in conference play. They fall to 8-9 overall and 1-3 in the Mid-American Conference.

Darryl Clements, who had 13 points and four assists, said too much is being made of recent struggles.

“Even though we didn’t win tonight, we have our confidence up,” Clements said. “We could have easily put our head down and took the loss, but we fought back.”

Coach Orr agreed, citing his team’s effort in their comeback attempt.

“We didn’t win and that is disappointing, but we can draw some positives out of the game,” he said. “It’s a long season and we just need to keep building off this and keep taking steps forward.”

With 13 games remaining, Orr alluded to the possibility of still achieving his team’s preseason goal.

“We want to compete for a MAC championship. That’s what you play for,” Orr said. “Every game should be played with a sense of urgency.

The Falcons will look to pick up their first road win of the season this weekend as they travel to Athens for a Saturday afternoon game at Ohio. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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Contact sports reporter Craig Vanderkam at [email protected].