The Bowling Green men’s basketball team needed someone to step up besides Josh Almanson and John Reimold if they were to beat the best team in the MAC — Steven Wright did just that.

Wright scored 14 points for the Falcons in their 57-56 win over Miami [OH] yesterday. Most importantly, he provided the spark needed to ignite the BG offense just before halftime.

“Steven Wright was phenomenal especially at the end of the half,” BG head coach Dan Dakich said. “He was just big.”

With 3:11 remaining in the half, Miami forward Monty St. Clair buried a three-pointer, which gave the RedHawks their biggest lead at 31-18. But on the next play, Wright answered back for the Falcons nailing a three of his own.

After Miami guard Chet Mason pushed the lead back up to 12 with 1:44 left, Wright collected a pair of steals, which led to fast break points on back to back possessions and cut the deficit to eight at the half.

Dakich said the plays that Wright made just before the half changed the entire game around for the Falcons.

“The key to this game, quite frankly, was the end of the first half when Steven Wright made three or four really good plays that enabled us to get within eight,” Dakich said. “If he doesn’t do that, if it gets to 13 or beyond, I don’t think we win the basketball game.”

Wright’s defensive intensity was contagious as BG held Miami to just 6-of-22 shooting from the field in the second half. Wright said his defense in the first half helped provide the energy needed after halftime.

“We fed off those two steals in the second half,” Wright said. “We knew we were going to come out and play hard.”

Wright also scored seven points in the second half, including a key three-pointer which cut the Miami lead to three with 5:10 remaining.

A big game for Wright couldn’t have come at a better time for the Falcons. He had made just one field goal in his last 16 attempts dating back to the Falcons win over Kent State on Feb. 12. He shot 5-of-7 from the field against the RedHawks.

Wright said the plays he made in the first half helped him regain his confidence.

“I went into halftime with a chip on my shoulder,” Wright said. “I knew I was going to come back and start playing good, so that gave me a little boost.”

Sunday was also the first time in three games that the Falcons got a double-digit scoring performance from someone other than seniors, Josh Almanson and John Reimold. While Almanson nailed the game winning shot and finished with 16 points, Reimold was limited to 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting and was double teamed nearly every time he touched the ball.

Dakich said without Wright as the third scoring option, the game would have ended with a much different result.

“Steven, who had been really not playing well at all and had a bad couple games, I thought just really stepped up and gave us a chance,” Dakich said. “Without that there is no chance.”