The men’s basketball team played host to Kent State, and the Kent’s seven game winning streak Thursday night in Anderson Arena.
Kent came into last night’s game with a full head of steam, led by one of the Mid American Conference’s leading scorers, Antonio Gates.
The Falcons did the’re best to shut down Gates and his 21 point per game average in the first half, Gates scored only seven points in the first half, thanks to the defensive effort of Cory Eyink and Kevin Netter.
The Falcons’ defense once again stood strong, forcing nine turnovers in the first half.
The Falcons, however, found themselves down for the entire first half, shooting just 28 percent from the field. The Falcons could not seem to find a way to put the ball in the hoop. On the other side of the court however, Kent guard Matt Jakeway was three for three in the first half and led the team with 13 first half points.
With the combination of poor shooting and good offensive output by Kent’s front court, the Falcons found themselves down by a lot late in the first half. Kent seemed to respond to every Falcon big play with a bigger play of their own, rarely letting the Falcons get the deficit under ten points.
It was not until late in the first half that the Falcons’ offense showed any signs of life, with back to back threes by Cory Ryan, the Falcons had the lead down to nine points with four minutes remaining in the half. Kent once again answered and sent the Falcons into the locker room, down 39-27.
Going into the second half the Falcons once again found themselves playing catch up. Kevin Netter did his best to spark the Falcons’ offense, scoring six of the team’s first eight points.
The Falcons’ perimeter offense seemed, often times, stifled by Kent’s zone defense. The front court of the Falcons could not find a shot, nor a pass that could penetrate Kents defense. It was not until late in the second half that the Falcons were able to close the gap on Kent’s lead, which at one point was 13.
With ten minutes left in the game Ronald Lewis threwdown a dunk, which seemed to awaken the Falcons and Anderson Arena. The energy kept up the rest of the game and at many times seemed to lead team back in the game. With consistent defense and a faster paced offense, the Falcons cut the lead to single digits.
The Falcons fought their way back into the game late in the second half. With the crowd behind them, the Falcons cut Kent’s lead down to just one point with five minutes left in the game after a John Reimold three.
The Falcons had seemed to find their tempo, but much to the chagrin of BG fans so did Kent’s Antonio Gates. Gates scored 19 second half points and had the Falcons looking for a way to shut down their leading scorer. With both Kevin Netter and Cory Eyink in foul trouble the Falcons had no anwer to Gates.
Gates and Akron proved to much for the Falcons both offensively and defensively. The early offensive let down along with the constant surge of Gates and Kents zone defense the Falcons found themselves in a hole they couldn’t overcome.
The Falcons never quit in the 67 to 73 loss against Kent. “It was a really tough, hard fought game. We have to figure out a way to get off to better starts.” said coach Dan Dakich. “Gates was phenomenal, he did what he does. We never got him under control,” added Dakich about Gates’ 26 point performance.
The Falcons will have to take this loss and move on, as they travel to Marshall for another conference game on Saturday. The team will once again have the task of controlling another conference leader, in Marshall’s Ronald Blacksheer. Blacksheer is second in the MAC in scoring, averaging over 22 points per game.
