Second time’s a charm

February 27, 2013

Jordon Crawford dribbles the ball past a New Orleans defender. The Falcons would defeat the Privateers 87-56.

The Falcons look to bounce back against Miami University on Wednesday after a disappointing loss against IPFW in the BracketBusters game.

This marks the first Mid-American Conference game for BG in over a week and the second game of the season against the RedHawks.

The two teams last matchup was Jan. 16 in Oxford, Ohio, where Miami defeated BG 63-60.

In that game, Jordon Crawford and A’uston Calhoun each scored 21 points but the rest of the starting lineup scored only 10 points and the Falcons only produced eight points off the bench.

Miami had three players score more than 10 points. Will Felder scored 20 points, including a go-ahead three pointer with two minutes left in the game. Allen Roberts scored 13 points against the Falcons and Drew McGhee scored 14 points off the bench for the RedHawks.

BG led 34-30 at halftime, but only produced 26 points in the second half, which gave the RedHawks an edge over the Falcons.

Since Miami’s 63-60 win over BG in January, its record has tanked. The RedHawks have only won one out of their past 10, which has earned the team a spot at the bottom of the MAC-East Division with an 8-17 (3-9) record.

After the win against BG, Miami lost four straight conference tilts against Eastern Michigan, Ohio, Ball State and Western Michigan. On Feb. 2, the RedHawks defeated Central Michigan 70-61 after two weeks without a victory.

Since their win at Central Michigan, Miami is on a five-game losing streak, which consists of losses against Toledo, Akron, Kent State, Buffalo and its BracketBusters game against Southern Illinois, which ended in overtime.

BG has fared better than Miami since the two teams played in January. The Falcons are 5-6 since Jan. 16 and in fifth place in the MAC-East with an 11-16 (5-7) record.

Despite its 5-7 conference record, BG has performed better in the conference than four teams and have equal records with two others. It beat all but two of those teams.

The Falcons sit in front of Ball State (4-8), Miami (3-9), Northern Illinois (3-9) and Central Michigan (2-10). They lost to Central Michigan and Miami, but defeated Ball State at home and Northern Illinois for their only road win of the season.

BG is tied with Kent State and in the division race, and trail to Akron, Ohio and Buffalo .

Tip-off against the RedHawks on Wednesday will commence at the Stroh Center at 7 p.m.