The Falcons could not buy a basket down the stretch when they needed it most Saturday night.
Rockets’ Juice Brown and Justin Drummond however, were able to score down the stretch, when and however they wanted to. Whether it was a fadeaway jumper, a back cut to the basket, or driving through the Falcons perimeter defense they found a way to carry the Rockets to a 71-67 win over the now, 12-5 [4-2] Falcons.
“Some of it was on us, we had defensive breakdowns,” said senior forward Richaun Holmes. “We weren’t in the right spots like we were supposed to be. Juice is an incredible player, he is one of the premier players in the MAC and Drummond has been playing well as well. They are two skilled guys and you have to really be on in order to stop them … we weren’t tonight.”
The Falcons, who were riddled with foul trouble, shot the ball poorly all game long, going 7-25 from deep and shooting 41 percent overall. When the Falcons cut the lead to two twice in the final two minutes, their fortune did not change, they continued to struggle knocking down shots.
“It’s tough, but it’s part of basketball. When you have opportunities you have to stick it through the square and put it through the net,” said head coach Chris Jans. “We couldn’t make a key shot, we couldn’t turn that tide. We had ample opportunities to do that, but we were never able to accomplish it.”
In the first half shots weren’t falling at an incredible rate for the Falcons, but they were falling when they needed them to. Guard Jehvon Clarke started the game 3-3 from deep, as all of those shots gave the Falcons a small lead. Anthony Henderson followed suit, hitting a three with 5:16 left in the first half giving the Falcons a 28-27 lead. They would not relinquish that lead until the 18:39 mark of the second half.
Going into halftime Holmes and three other post players had two fouls or more, and the Falcons had committed nine turnovers. Like it has all season, the Falcons’ defense kept them in the game, holding the Rockets to 36 percent shooting, as they lead 34-32.
“We felt good,” Jans said about the first half. “They were in foul trouble as well. We felt we were in a great position and we didn’t feel like we played over the top.”
The second half was another story, as the Falcons’ defense had no answer for the duo of Brown and Drummond. They scored a combined 46 points in the game, 28 of which came in the second half.
“Juice was terrific, he was better than advertised tonight. I’ve never seen him play in person before … I was very impressed,” Jans said. “We talk about him being a big shot taker and he certainly proved it tonight. Drummond is kind of his robin and we had a hard time with him as well.”
The Falcons weren’t turning the ball over at the same rate as the first half, but they couldn’t buy a basket. That allowed the Rockets to open the half on an 11-4 run.
A Zack Denny three with 10:36 to go gave the Falcons a 50-49 lead, but a jumper by Drummond gave the Rockets the lead right back and they would not let it go the rest of the game.
When the buzzer sounded, once again it was Rockets fans celebrating after another edition of the Battle of I-75.
The Falcons have a quick turn around, as they will host Northern Illinois Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“We have to get better,” Jans said. “The league is a grind, we aren’t even a third of the way through it yet. We won’t have much time to reflect upon this, so we will start working on them immediately.
