With a win over Ball State last Monday in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament, the Bowling Green men’s basketball team moved one step closer towards an NCAA tournament berth.
But on Thursday, Miami killed those chances.
The senior duo of Danny Horace and Chet Mason were unstoppable, as the RedHawks (19-9) ended the Falcons (18-11) season with an 85-65 victory in the MAC quarterfinals at Gund Arena on Thursday.
Horace scored a career-high 28 points and made 15 of 17 free throws, which tied the second highest total in a MAC tournament game. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and had two blocks.
Mason finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists for top-seeded Miami who advanced to the MAC tournament semifinals for the second straight year.
“We couldn’t get anybody to get a handle on Horace and I don’t think we ever got a handle on Mason,” BG head coach Dan Dakich said. “I thought both kids were tremendous tonight.”
Last time the Falcons faced the RedHawks on Feb. 27, Miami had a one point lead with 31 seconds to go and Horace on the free throw line with a chance to push the lead up to three. But he missed the first of a one of one free throw opportunity and Josh Almanson hit the game-winning jumper with six seconds left for a 57-56 win. Miami head coach Charlie Coles said Horace felt responsible for the loss at Anderson Arena and wanted to redeem himself.
“I’ve never seen a kid so disappointed in all my years of coaching,” Coles said. “He took it personal and I thought he came out tonight and played a great game.”
John Reimold, who torched Ball State last Monday with a career-high 38 points, led BG with 24 points. Almanson added 16 points and Austin Montgomery scored a season-high nine points off the bench.
However, the Falcons allowed Miami to shoot 57.5 percent from the field, which is the best any opponent has shot against them this season.
“They hit some shots and I think we had some lapses on defense that allowed them to get those shots,” Almanson said. “Last time we played them we did a pretty good job of keeping their guys out of the middle — this game not so much.”
Miami jumped to an early 16-3 lead in the first nine minutes, but BG put together a run of its own, and trailed 18-14 with nine minutes left in the half on a tip in by Matt Lefeld.
But the RedHawks went to the break with a 10-point advantage and stretched their lead to 50-33 at the 13:48 mark. The Falcons cut it down to 13 with 4:36 remaining but could not get any closer the rest of the way.
“They’re a great defensive team,” Reimold said. “They made everything tough on us and we just could never get going.”
Notes:
Josh Almanson was named first team All-MAC and finished third in the MAC in scoring with 17.2 points per game. He also shot 59 percent shooting from the field this season, best in the MAC…John Reimold, who led the MAC in scoring this season averaging 18.5 points per game, was named second team All-MAC…Both Reimold and Buffalo’s Turner Battle were the only MAC players to be named Mid-Major All-American by collegeinsider.com.
