The BG men’s basketball team defeated the Western Michigan Broncos on Wednesday night.
“I thought we got enough offense. We kept the scoreboard moving in the second half,” said Louis Orr, head coach. “We shot the ball well. I thought A’uston made some big baskets late to keep the scoreboard moving.”
BG’s offense consistently made baskets against the Broncos, making 50 percent of its shots and a great performance by senior A’uston Calhoun, who shot 10-17 and scored 24 points.
“We know throughout the course of the season that we have been struggling on the offensive end,” Calhoun said. “We have had a lot of periods dispersed throughout our games where we couldn’t get a basket. So that’s what we’ve been focusing on the past couple weeks and for the last few games I think its shown.”
Senior Jordan Crawford and sophomore Chauncey Orr each scored 13 points and 11 points respectively.
BG’s defense was also at the top of its game Wednesday night against the Broncos. The Falcons recorded ten steals and seven blocks against Western Michigan. Orr and sophomore Richaun Holmes each had a team-leading three steals on the night.
Junior Cameron Black blocked three shots and Holmes blocked two shots against the Broncos. Holmes is only one block away from the school’s single-season blocks record of 59 and only two away from being the first Falcon to block 60 shots in a single-season.
The win takes the Falcons’ win total to double digits, making their record 10-14 (5-6). The Broncos fell to 15-9 (7-4) on the season and the loss marks Western Michigan’s second straight loss after winning seven in a row.
The Falcons next match up is Saturday, at the University of Akron. The Zips defeated the Falcons 68-55 earlier this year at the Stroh Center.
Since their win against the Falcons on Jan. 30, the Zips have not lost. They added four wins to their win streak, which is now at 16 games and is the longest winning streak in the nation.
Their wins came against Ohio (86-72) and Central Michigan (68-56) at home, and against Miami (54-50) and Eastern Michigan (70-62) on the road.
Following their game against the Falcons, the Zips will be hosting North Dakota State in the ESPN BracketBusters game.
The Falcons will tip-off against Akron on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
BG’s next home game will be Feb. 21 against the New Orleans Privateers. Anybody who bought a ticket to the game against Western Michigan can receive a free ticket to the New Orleans game at the Stroh Center box office.
