With a 17-point deficit at halftime, the Bowling Green men’s basketball team needed a miracle if they were to overcome the Toledo Rockets stifling defense.
That miracle came all right–but the Falcons one-two scoring punch of Josh Almanson and John Reimold weren’t the only ones who made it happen.
With 27 seconds left, it was Germain Fitch who scored the winning basket in the Falcons’ 70-69 victory over the Rockets at Anderson Arena on Saturday. After averaging just 3.6 points this season, Fitch scored a career-high 12 points with a career-best eight rebounds. But it was his tip-dunk in the first minute of the second half that helped ignite the Falcons’ offensive surge.
“That tip-dunk sparked our fans and sparked our team,” Fitch said. “That gave us the drive to go ahead and take it from there.”
After Fitch missed his first shot attempt early in the first half, he never missed the rest of the night connecting on his next six shot attempts. His six made field goals are the most he’s ever made in his career.
“I think I got in a comfort zone for four or five minutes where I was open getting shots so I took em,” Fitch said.
BG guard John Floyd also stepped it up for the Falcons when they needed it the most. He scored 13 points and had a team-high six assists.
Floyd’s three-pointer at the 13:33 mark of the second half gave the Falcons their first lead since early in the first half when they led 4-0. Then, after Toledo regained a one point lead with 7:28 remaining on Justin Ingram’s three point play, Floyd answered back with seven straight points for the Falcons.
“I give Floyd a lot of credit,” Dakich said. “He was just really ready in the second half.”
The Falcons also got a big lift from junior forward Mawel Soler, who made his first career start and scored the game’s first four points. Soler chipped in with nine points and six rebounds and shot a perfect 4 for 4 from the field. In fact, Soler has only missed five of his 29 shot attempts this season.
The fans played a key role in the Falcons comeback as well. With a sold out crowd, Anderson Arena roared for most of the second half giving the Falcons that extra boost needed to stop the Rockets. BG head coach Dan Dakich said the crowd energized the team and played a major factor in the end result.
“Our crowd was into it,” Dakich said. “Without that crowd this game is over at halftime.”
Floyd said the crowd’s energy allowed the team to forget how tired they were which kept the momentum going throughout the second half.
“Our crowd carried us a lot; they really rode us to this victory,” he said. “We spent so much energy getting that lead and (Toledo) tied it right back. They made some big shots, I’m just glad we finished on top.”
The Falcons travel to Mt. Pleasant, Mich., for another MAC battle against Central Michigan on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
