On Friday, the BGSU men’s basketball team (5-8, 0-1) faced off against the Akron Zips (8-5, 1-0) at the Stroh Center for their first conference match of the season.
The Orange and Brown led for the first 36 minutes of the game, but due to Akron’s depth and capitalization on BG’s mistakes late in the game, the Zips hopped back on the bus with a win.
“We have a lead for 36 minutes, and to give it away right there at the end is really a good learning lesson for us,” said head coach Todd Simon.
Here is how things went down.
First Half
Bowling Green started strong, going on a 10-0 run from the jump and causing an Akron timeout from head coach John Groce.
Early on, the Falcons were being absolute pests on the defensive side of the floor, with BG junior guard Javontae Campbell snagging two steals in the first four minutes of the game.
Bowling Green head coach Todd Simon called his first timeout with 11:49 remaining in the half due to an 8-2 Akron run that pushed the score to 17-10, still in favor of the Falcons.
Halfway through the first half, both teams shot 2-8 from three. The major factor keeping the Orange and Brown in the lead was their ability to get to the free-throw line. They shot 6-8 from the line, while no Akron player had made a trip there yet.
With 8:25 left to go in the half, BG was ahead by only two despite their impressive start. Akron had gone on a 17-3 run over just seven minutes.
The two squads began trading buckets late in the half, but the Zips tied the game at 25 points apiece with under four minutes remaining.
Falcon senior guard Trey Thomas took over late in the half, scoring 15 total points on 6-8 shooting, going 3-5 from deep.
Bowling Green led the Zips going into halftime 32-30, keeping the lead despite their poor shooting in the middle third of the half.
Akron shot 35.5% from the field, while the Falcons shot 36.7%. The Zips outdid BG from deep with six made threes to the Falcons four, and the two teams tied in the rebounding department with 20.
Second Half
Both teams try to find their footing after the break in the opening minutes of the second half. Five minutes in, and the Falcons led 42-36 heading into a media timeout.
Both teams’ defense is stifling, and combine that with difficulty to make threes on both sides and a low-scoring start to the half occurs.
The Zips were ice-cold behind the arc in the first 7 minutes, making one three-pointer on nine attempts. On the contrary, the Falcons were a modest 2-4 on threes.
Groce called a timeout after the Falcons went up 52-43 using a Thomas three-pointer that bounced its way in.
Akron fought hard to come back in this game, shortening the deficit to just four points with just under eight minutes left.
Bowling Green’s rebounding was the reason they kept their lead. The Falcons out-rebounded the Zips 42-30 with 7 minutes to go.
Campbell was blocked by senior forward James Okonkwo going into the media timeout. The Falcons still led by a score of 63-59 with four minutes left.
The teams traded key baskets down the stretch, and Bowling Green found themselves with a three-point lead after a tough layup by senior forward Marcus Johnson.
However, Akron hit two threes in a row with barely over one minute to go in the game, taking their first lead of the night at 68-65.
Thomas made a free throw to shorten the Zip’s lead to two. On the other end of the floor, BG Redshirt freshman forward Jamai Felt attempted a block that was called a goal-tend.
Johnson then again closed the gap to two points with a put-back layup. The Falcons then forced a turnover with 20 seconds left but did not score off of it.
Bowling Green was forced to foul with time running out, and the Zips won the game 71-68, spoiling the Falcons MAC home opener.
Costly turnovers were the reason the Falcons lost this one. Akron scored 22 points off of Bowling Green’s turnovers.
Despite the loss, senior guard Derrick Butler remained positive, stating postgame, “We played hard for 36 minutes, […] we just couldn’t do the little things to finish the game, but I’m very proud of my teammates.”
Butler finished the game tonight with 15 points on 28.6% shooting, five boards, and one assist. The shooting guard must be extremely tired after playing hard for all 40 minutes of the game.
Thomas had a season-high of 19 points tonight on a very efficient 63.6%, to go along with four rebounds and two assists.
“I spent a lot of time this week watching film this week on how they played defense,” said Thomas, “so I knew I was gonna get my looks, [I] just stayed aggressive.”
The Falcons are now 0-1 to start MAC play and suffer their eighth loss of the season. The Orange and Brown will look to bounce back against Western Michigan on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 7th, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
