The Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team struggled to find any offense in Saturday’s matchup with Akron University.
They shot 35 percent from the field and 15 percent from behind the three point arc. Along with the poor shooting night, the Falcons also committed 20 turnovers and only four assists.
“It was a tough offensive game for both team,” said head coach Louis Orr. “Turnovers were our biggest enemy…we hurt ourselves.”
Even with the poor shooting night, the Falcons were still tied 34-34 with the Zips at one point in the second half. After that point in the game, the Falcons went on a scoring drought and the Zips took advantage of it by going on a 15-2 run. That run was capped off by a Quincy Diggs three pointer and it pushed the Zips lead to 49-36.
Richaun Holmes’ dunk ended the Falcons drought and started a nine point turn around as they cut the lead to 54-45.
“Akron was coming into this game with three losses in a row, you had to fight them tough because they were going to fight,” Orr said. “Offensively we hurt ourselves and we just couldn’t get going.”
Their run came too late, though, as the Zips would go on to win 57-47.
The Falcons were led by its their two big men, Holmes and Cameron Black. Holmes had 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, giving him 83 blocks on the season and 156 for his career which puts him just three shy of Otis Polk’s BGSU career blocks record of 159.
Black registered his fourth double-double of the season, as the senior had 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks of his own.
“Cam has really stepped it up and Richaun is being active and doing more too,” Orr said. “Those two guys are a very formidable front court…that is one of our strengths.”
The Falcons’ Spencer Parker had 12 points and seven rebounds, while guard Jehvon Clarke had nine points, four steals and two assists.
Clarke eclipsed the 200 career assists mark, giving him 201 now in his three years at BGSU.
The Zips were led by Demetrius Treadwell’s game-high 17 points, as he also pulled in nine rebounds, while Quincy Diggs added 13 points and six boards in the win.
With that loss, the Falcons hurt if not end their chances of hosting a game in their first round of the Mid-American Tournament. With Kent State winning this winning the Falcons fall from the ninth seed in the tournament to the tenth seed.
The Falcons have two games left in the regular season to move up the standings. They host Ohio University Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for their senior night. They will honor Cameron Black and Craig Sealey in the pregame.
“We can’t quit now. We have two regular season games left until the MAC tournament,” Orr said. “We can’t drop our heads; we just have to keep playing.
