From the first few minutes of the game, the Falcons kept the Golden Flashes in the dark and defeated Kent State 70-55.
The win snaps the team’s two-game losing streak, just in time for their next game at Toledo.
Sophomore Chauncey Orr was unstoppable against the Flashes — scoring a career high 18 points. Orr went 5-9, which included four three-point shots and made all four of his free throws on the night.
Seniors A’uston Calhoun and Jordan Crawford both had 12 points each, while sophomores Anthony Henderson and Richaun Holmes had eight points apiece. The team shot for 44.8 percent on the game, which was one of the highest percentages on the season.
Offensively, the Falcons were more aggressive than they have shown in the past and it appeared that they were an entirely different team than they were this past week against Miami and Buffalo.
“We come out every night and we have Jordan as our point guard,” Orr said. “ When he’s finding guys, he really gets us involved, and that’s all it is really … Most of the time, it’s Jordan Crawford getting us the ball and I thanked him after the game because that’s big— we need that because everyone was hitting shots and getting stops.”
Orr really shined behind the arc against Kent State. During the first half, Orr and Henderson made back-to-back three-pointers which pushed the lead to 10 points at the time.
The Falcons were on fire on the defensive side of the ball. Calhoun recorded 13 rebounds on top of the 12 points he scored, which gave him his second double-double of the season.
Holmes had a good night overall especially defensively. He came off the bench to score eight points, four rebounds and blocked four Kent State shots. Holmes’ 50 season blocks put him at fourth on the all-time single-season blocks list in program history. He needs nine more blocks to tie Cornelius Cash’s single-season block record that has stood for nearly 40 years.
Junior Cameron Black blocked two shots and had four offensive rebounds of his own.
Junior Craig Sealey has slowly made his return to the court and amounted to nine minutes against Kent State, in which he scored four points.
As Sealey records more playing time, senior Luke Kraus has seen less. Kraus started nearly every game during non-conference play but once conference play began, he has not had the same amount of time on the court. He recorded 20 minutes against the Golden Flashes, but scored four points and committed four personal fouls during his time on the court.
This win marks BG’s sixth win at the Stroh Center this season and the 18th win all-time in the facility. When the Falcons score 70 points or more at the Stroh Center, they are undefeated in seven games.
Saturday marks undoubtedly the most important game on the Falcons’ schedule — the Battle of I-75 match against the Toledo Rockets. But, like BG, Toledo has had a rough season as well. The Rockets are 6-10 (2-3) and have lost three straight against Western Michigan, Ohio and Akron.
Toledo struggled in non-conference play as well. UT went 1-3 against Horizon League opponents— they beat Illinois-Chicago but lost close to Loyola (IL), Cleveland State and Detroit.
The Rockets also gave up a demoralizing loss to Florida Gulf Coast, in which junior Rian Pearson scored 28 points against the Eagles. Then on New Year’s Eve, Toledo was upset by Chicago State (4-12) at home.
The Falcons will make their 20 minute trip to Toledo Saturday, where tip-off at Savage Arena will commence at 7 p.m.
