With two games under their belt in conference play, the Bowling Green men’s basketball team has a 1-1 record in the Mid-American Conference with a win over Miami and a loss to Central Michigan over the break.
The team put on a defensive showcase in route to their 73-62 win over the Redhawks, holding their opponents to just 34.3 percent (23-of-67) from the field. The Falcons also recorded nine steals and eight blocks.
“The key for us is always defense,” Head Coach Michael Huger said. “We run off of our defensive stops. That’s when we want to get out in transition for our open threes and lay-ups. Once we started to get our stops we were able to go out in transition and score so that was the difference.”
While a majority of the Redhawks were held under their scoring averages, leading Miami scorer Eric Washington was above his average with 21 points. The Miami number two man, Geovonie McKnight, was also slightly above his average with 15 points.
The difference in the Miami leading guards’ stat line was in the assists. The Falcons kept them from getting their teammates involved by holding them to two assists combined. Washington was held to 0.
Bowling Green attacked the basket regularly throughout the game and took advantage of their aggressiveness at the free throw line. The Falcons shot 80 percent from the stripe, making 24 of their 30 attempts. The team made more free throws than the Redhawks even attempted with Miami attempting 22 shots and making 14 of them at 63.6 percent.
Junior guard Zack Denny led the Falcons in the contest with 20 points and eight boards. Denny was 6 of 10 from the field overall and 4 of 6 behind the three point line. Freshman guard Antwon Lillard was the second leading scorer on the night, putting up a career high 16 points.
Freshman forward Demajeo Wiggins led the team in the game on the boards, grabbing a career high 11 rebounds on the night which tied Miami’s leading rebounder McKnight. Wiggins also scored six points on 3 of 4 shooting and recorded two blocks.
“It felt great to contribute as a freshman,” Wiggins said. “I feel like the rebounding and defensive side of the ball translate for me. As a big it’s kind of tough. You have to be ready to catch but on defense, that’s my bread and butter right now so I’m going to stick to it.”
The Falcons will continue MAC play on Tuesday when they travel to Athens for a match up against Ohio University.
