If Bowling Green coach Dan Dakich and his players were in a foul mood after Saturday’s game at Ohio’s Convocation Center, excuse them. That was the tone of the day.
The game was marred by 28 first-half fouls and Bowling Green was in the penalty with 16 minutes remaining in the second half. Ultimately, Ohio hung on for an 85-78 win over BG on Senior Day. Unfortunately, the Falcons missed an opportunity to bolster their resume for a possible at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, but still hold the No. 3 seed in this week’s Mid-American Conference Tournament.
BG’s Keith McLeod, who came into the game leading the MAC and 13th in the nation in scoring (21.9 ppg), almost single-handedly led the Falcons back from a 16-point second half deficit. Entering the second half with a 42-39 lead, the Bobcats got a lift from senior center Patrick Flomo, who scored six points to increase the OU lead to nine at 50-41.
“I don’t know who got them started in the second half,” said BG coach Dan Dakich, “but that was the difference in the ball game in my view, that they were able to take it out in the second half, and we were not.
“They got a lot of good play out of a lot of guys, including Sanderson, Flomo, Esterkamp. … Sanderson may have been the difference in the second half of the game. My hat’s off to them: They did a great job of seeing what hurt them the last time, and they took it away from us, and that was Lenny (Matela).”
After a dunk by Flomo, a block on Len Matela, and two free throws by McLeod, OU went on a 9-0 run, which was capped off by a James Bridgewater tip-in with 13:46 to go in the game. Only a basket by BG freshman Germain Fitch ended that run, and a bucket by Jon Sanderson and a free throw by Jaivon Harris extended the Bobcat lead to 17 at 62-45.
McLeod then heated up again, and after scoring 14 points in the first half, began to bring his team back into the game. The Falcons chipped away at the OU lead, with five straight McLeod points cutting the lead to 12 with 9:40 to go. But Len Matela fouled out on the next OU possession, and the Falcon defense, which had been spectacular in the previous three games, could not hold OU off the board. OU’s Zach Kiekow made one of two from the line, but Brandon Pardon followed with a lay-up. Sanderson then hit one of two, but McLeod dunked with authority to bring the lead back to 10.
Brandon Hunter scored three straight for OU, but a Cory Ryan three and two free throws from Kevin Netter once again cut the OU lead to eight. After jockeying back and forth for the next four minutes, and the lead at six with 1:19 to go, the Falcons had their best possible chance to make a run at the game.
After a Klassen lay-up, McLeod stole a pass from Sanderson and found Pardon for a three, but the senior couldn’t hit. McLeod missed the follow, and Klassen, after tracking down the loose ball, was intercepted by Steve Esterkamp, who was intentionally fouled by Pardon. He hit both free throws, and Kiekow put the nail in the coffin on the ensuing possession with two free throws of his own.
“My hat’s off to OU,” McLeod said. “More than anything, they did what they needed to do, and that was get offensive rebounds and grab loose balls, and we didn’t. They got shots, and they hit their shots, and our intensity was just not there on defense. Lenny’s a big part of our game, and when he goes out, that’s a big absence.”
McLeod led the Falcons with 35 points and Pardon scored 15. Esterkamp, who scored 17 in the first half, led Ohio with 19 points. Sanderson scored 15, all in the second half, and Kiekow and Flomo chipped in 13 and 11, respectively. There were 56 fouls called in the game, and a total of 74 foul shots taken.
“I was happy with our effort, I thought it was a significant turnaround for our team,” said OU coach Tim O’Shea. “We got a lot of contributions from a lot of guys. … Bridgewater played great, Sanderson played well, Kiekow showed why we recruited him, and Flomo brought a lot of intensity. Even James Crawford, who doesn’t get a lot of media attention, played well on McLeod and hit a huge three for us.”
The Falcons play Thursday night at 9 p.m. at Gund Arena in Cleveland in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament. They will take on the winner of Akron and Western Michigan, who play tonight at Western Michigan.
