Cleveland Bound! Falcons Shoot Down Cardinals, 88-75

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Final Statistics: Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)
Video: Game Highlights
Video - Postgame Press Conference:
Jans, Chris | Henderson, Anthony
Audio - Postgame Press Conference:
Jans, Chris | Henderson, Anthony
Video: Postgame Interview with Coach Jans
Audio: Postgame Interview with Coach Jans
Photos: Photo Gallery (Bianca Garza)
Radio Calls by Todd Walker, the Voice of the Falcons:
Clarke 3pt basket in 1st half (Tied, 7-7)
Austin 3pt basket in 1st half (BG, 17-11)
Henderson 3pt basket in 1st half (BG, 26-18)
Dickerson layup from Austin in 1st half (BG, 45-32)
Denny 3pt basket late in 1st half (BG, 48-32)
Dickerson 3pt basket in 2nd half (BG, 55-44)
Clarke drive to the basket in 2nd half (BG, 59-51)
Denny rebound & layup in 2nd half (BG, 70-60)
Denny 3pt basket in 2nd half (BG, 74-63)
Denny nails 3pt basket late in 2nd half (BG, 81-72)
Parker and-1 basket in 2nd half (BG, 87-73)

Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team poured in a season-high 88 points on 54.9 percent shooting to shoot down the No. 12 seeded Ball State Cardinals 88-75 on Monday night in the first round of the 2015 MAC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Not only did the Falcons shoot a season-high 54.9 percent from the field, but the Orange and Brown also dished out 16 assists and committed only seven turnovers for the full 40 minutes of play.

BGSU was 28-of-51 (54.9 percent) from the field overall, 9-of-18 (50 percent) from behind the three-point line and 23-of-27 (85.2 percent) from the foul line in the double digit win.

The win gives the Falcons 20 victories on the season for the first time since BGSU posted 24 wins back in 2001-02.

"There was a lot of talk prior to the game about our mental state within the walls of the Stroh and certainly outside of them as well. It was a concern of ours and I thought that was probably the number one factor heading into the game is if we were mentally in the right frame of mind," commented head coach Chris Jans. "Certainly that first half I couldn't ask for anything more. We played with urgency, we played offensively the way that any coach would want their team to play. We talked at halftime that one of two things was going to happen – the lead was going to get to 20 and it would be a fun last 15 minutes or it would go back to 10 and we would have a ball game. A lot of the credit has to go to Coach Whitford, his staff and the players. On the road down 16 at the half, you know, things could have easily gone south, but they didn't. They deserve a lot of credit for the way they continued to fight and scratch and claw, but in the end we were able to fight them off and get the win."

Despite playing without First-Team All-MAC selection Richaun Holmes, the Falcons had four players in double figures led by the senior duo of Anthony Henderson and Jehvon Clarke. Henderson totaled 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting overall for the contest, while Clarke tallied 19 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Zack Denny finished with 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the three-point arc, while Delvin Dickerson added 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting before fouling out in the second half.

Ball State also had four players in double figures led by Bo Calhoun's team-high 17 points and five rebounds off the bench. Jeremiah Davis chipped in with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while Sean Sellers and Franko House finished the game with 13 and 10 points apiece, respectively.

After the Cardinals opened up the game with a layup from the block from House, the game saw four ties and a lead change until a three-pointer from Dickerson put the Falcons in front at 12-9 at the 14:09 mark of the opening half.

BGSU did not look back and led the rest of the way, as Dickerson followed with two free throws, while Jovan Austin nailed a three-pointer from the right wing to give the Falcons a six-point lead at 17-11 with 13:02 to play in the first half.

For every Ball State basket, the Falcons had an answer, as BGSU pushed its lead out to as high as eight on three different occasions until a layup from Josh Gomez, who made his first career start, and two more free throws from Dickerson increased the home team's lead to double digits at 32-22 with 6:43 on the first half game clock.

A Henderson three-pointer at the 5:02 mark jump-started an offensive surge for the Falcons, who outscored Ball State 16-9 over the final five minutes of the opening frame, highlighted by three-balls from Henderson and Denny, to take a 50-34 lead into the halftime break.

With the best offensive scoring output for a single half of the season at 50 points and a 16-point lead, the Falcons struggled on both ends of the floor out of the halftime intermission, as Ball State ran off eight straight points to get back to within eight points at 50-42 with 17:50 to play in the contest.

A jumper from Henderson ended the Cardinals' run, yet the visitors in red refused to go away and battled to cut the Falcons lead to three at 61-58 on a three-pointer from Davis at the 9:00 mark of the second half.

Three straight free throws from David Joseph, who had a game-high five assists, and Spencer Parker righted the ship for the Falcons, as BGSU used a 9-2 spurt to put the lead back at double digits at 70-60 on a rebound and layup from Denny with 5:34 left on the game clock.

Just over two and a half minutes later, Ball State saw a three-pointer from the left wing from Calhoun put the visitors down just six once again, this time at 78-72 with 2:51 to go in the game.

However, the Falcons quickly answered with a three-pointer of its own from Denny and then went a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line over the final 1:22 of the game to pull away late and seal the 88-75 first round win.

BGSU out-rebounded Ball State 31-22 and held a 14-9 edge in second chance points. The Falcons also outscored Ball State 35-25 in bench points.

BGSU, who improved to 20-10 overall on the year with the win, now moves on to the second round of play the 2015 MAC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament on Wednesday night, March 11, at 6:30 p.m. versus the No. 8 seeded Eastern Michigan Eagles.

###

Notes
* The Falcons are going to Cleveland, Ohio for the first time since the 2011 MAC Championship Tournament.
* BGSU posted its 20th win of the season – the first time BGSU has had 20 wins in a single season since the Falcons totaled 24 wins in 2001-02.
* The Falcons improved to 11-5 at home in the Stroh Center this season.
* BGSU improved to 9-4 overall in MAC Championship Tournament games played at home in Bowling Green, Ohio with the win.
* BGSU has now won seven straight over Ball State.
* Bowling Green is now 5-1 all-time versus Ball State in MAC Championship Tournament play.
* With the win, BGSU is now 8-1 this season versus MAC West Division opponents.
* The 88 points for the game was the largest scoring output for the Falcons this season.
* The 50 points in the first half was the largest scoring output for the Falcons over a half of play this year.
* The Falcons' 54.9 field goal percentage overall for the game was a season-high.
* BGSU's 23 made free throws (23-of-27) was the second most in a single game for the Falcons this season.
* With their seven turnovers for the game, BGSU has now posted nine or less turnovers in 10 different games on the season.
* The 20 points by Anthony Henderson ties his season-high.
* Redshirt-junior center Josh Gomez made his first career start on Monday night in the win.
* Head Coach Chris Jans is the first BGSU head coach to win 20 games in his first-year in BGSU men's basketball history.

A video posted by BGSU Athletics (@bgfalcons) on Mar 9, 2015 at 6:14pm PDT

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Anthony Henderson

Jehvon Clarke

Zack Denny

Delvin Dickerson

Players Mentioned

Jovan Austin

Jehvon Clarke

Zack Denny

Delvin Dickerson

Josh Gomez

Anthony Henderson

Richaun Holmes

David Joseph

Spencer Parker

Players Mentioned

Jovan Austin

Jehvon Clarke

Zack Denny

Delvin Dickerson

Josh Gomez

Anthony Henderson

Richaun Holmes

David Joseph

Spencer Parker

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