After an unlikely run in the Mid-American Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament, the Bowling Green men’s basketball team fell to the Akron Zips in the semifinals Friday, ending the Falcons’ season with an 80-66 loss.
“I’m proud of my guys (and) the way they fought,” Falcons’ head coach Michael Huger said after the defeat.
BG, the lowest seed, had reached its first tournament semifinals in seven years after beating fifth-seeded Kent State to begin the tournament, then taking down the No. 4 seed Central Michigan in the quarterfinals.
Although trailing by seven points at the half, the Falcons outscored the Golden Flashes of Kent State by eight in the second half to steal a 70-69 win in the first round. Freshman guard Antwon Lillard helped lead BG’s comeback, scoring all of his 13 points in the second half.
The Falcons tallied another win the following day as they edged Central Michigan, 62-59. Lillard had his second consecutive big night for BG, scoring 26 points on 8-12 from the field and 5-8 from three-point range. Lillard’s fifth three gave the Falcons a lead of 60-59 with just over 12 seconds remaining. Bowling Green’s win was sealed after an errant pass of the Chippewa’s was stolen by junior guard JD Tisdale.
For its third game in as many days, the Falcons then faced the conference’s top-seeded Akron Zips. BG was able to keep the game close in the first half, only trailing by six at the break. The Zips were able to pull away in the second, though, thanks to junior center Isaiah Johnson. Johnson scored 23 points and notched six rebounds for the Zips, including an 11-point run of his own after the Falcons trailed 56-52 midway through the second half.
Huger emphasized that Johnson’s big game was in part due to the team’s focus on Akron’s perimeter game. “We didn’t want to leave their shooters,” he said, after having mentioned that BG gave up a combined 35 three-pointers in its two games versus Akron in the regular season.
The Falcons held the Zips to only nine threes in their meeting Friday.
After reaching its eighth MAC championship game in ten years, Akron fell to Buffalo, 64-61. The Bulls earned a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face the No. 3 seed Miami Hurricanes out of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The teams face off at 6:50 p.m. Thursday in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Falcons finished the season with a 16-18 overall record and a 5-13 record in MAC play.
And although a below .500 record this season might not have been ideal, coach Huger is excited at the prospect of next year’s team.
“The sky’s the limit for us,” Huger said of he and his team, which is set to return almost 75 percent of its scoring. “We have a lot of good talent returning for next year and (I’m) looking forward to next season.”
