Josh Almanson scored a career-high 28 points to lead the BG men’s basketball team to a 81-59 victory over Youngstown State on Saturday.
Almanson scored 21 of his 28 points in the first half on 8 of 9 shooting. He shot 11 of 13 overall and contributed four rebounds.
The Falcons shot a sizzling 53 percent from the field and dominated on the glass, grabbing 36 rebounds while the Penguins had 25. BG forced the Penguins to turn the ball over 16 times in the first half giving the Falcons a 27-2 advantage in points resulting from turnovers.
“Offensively, we came out fast and defensively I thought we were after the ball,” BG coach Dan Dakich said. “And obviously Josh (Almanson) got going and that was the ball game.”
Almanson has been on fire lately, shooting a combined 18 of 22 for 44 total points over the last two games.
“(Josh) was as focused in our last two games as I’ve ever seen a kid,” Dakich said.
After BG jumped to an early 26-6 lead in the first seven minutes of the game, the Penguins put together an 8-0 run cutting the deficit to eight with 9:45 to go. That would be the closest they would get, however, as the Falcons closed the half on a 19-7 run with Almanson scoring 13 points during that stretch.
The Falcons strong shooting continued in the second half and Cory Eyink’s three-pointer with 9:16 left gave the Falcons their biggest lead at 66-39. Eyink finished with seven points shooting a perfect 3 of 3 from the field.
John Reimold added 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks and Steven Wright had 14. Germain Fitch contributed six points, five rebounds, and three steals.
Quin Humphrey led the Penguins with 16 points and Zach Silverman had 12 points and four rebounds.
The Falcons are now 5-1 on the season and have won five straight games, their longest winning streak since they won six during the 2002-2003 season. They are now 2-1 on the road, which already matches their road victory total of last season.
“I was really pleased with our play because we haven’t been the greatest road team,” Dakich said. “Any win we get like this is a welcomed win and I thought we played hard.”
The Falcons will have plenty of rest before their next game Tuesday, Dec. 21 when they host IPFW at 7 p.m.
Notes:
The Falcons lead the MAC in field goal percentage, shooting over 52 percent on the season … BG has jumped out to a seven point lead or better in every game this season against a Div. 1 opponent … The Falcons have held their opponents to just 59.5 points this season, which leads the MAC.
