Dee Brown reached 1,000 career points Wednesday against Akron, but a curb was placed on the senior’s milestone as the Falcons went down 79-68.
Zeke Marshall paced a 57 percent shooting effort from Akron with 16 points and was one of five players to score in double figures for the Zips. Brian Walsh, Alex Abreu and Nikola Cvetinovic each had 12 points, and Demetrius Treadwell had 10.
BG’s A’uston Calhoun led all scorers with 18 points and posted a team-high seven rebounds. The Falcons’ leading scorer recoiled nicely after consecutive pedestrian contributions versus Ohio and Morehead State against whom he tallied just nine points combined.
Brown finished with 11 points and reached 1,000 on a mid-range jumper at the 14:13 mark in the second period. He got to 1,002 when he meshed a pair of free throws during a 13-1 run that ended with the Falcons within three points of Akron, 67-64, with 2:17 left.
But the Zips would respond with a 12-3 run to get to the final margin and were perfect on eight free throw attempts in the final 45 seconds.
They handled the Falcons in the key on both ends of the floor to hold edges of 42-28 and 24-12 in points in the paint and defensive rebounds, respectively. Akron aggression in the low post allowed it to attempt 12 more free throws than BG.
The Zips were 18-of-20 (90 percent) from the free throw stripe.
Jordon Crawford, along with Calhoun and Brown, also finished in double digits for BG with 13 points. The point guard handled the ball with care and committed only one turnover which played a large part in the Falcons finishing with a season low of eight.
The loss put BG two games back of fourth place in the Mid-American Conference and a first-round bye in the tournament. Ohio, Buffalo and Kent State are tied for second with league records of 9-4.
The Falcons will have a chance to hoist themselves within a game of Kent State when they take on the Golden Flashes at the Stroh Center on Saturday.
The two played at Kent back in January, and despite a 60-point second half the Falcons lost 92-87.
