Falcons Blister Nets In 71-58 MAC Victory Over Central Michigan

Wednesday, January 25

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

9-10, 3-3MAC

Central Michigan

7-12, 2-4MAC

Central Michigan

Bowling Green

Photo by: Craig Bell, BGSU Marketing and Communications

January 25, 2012 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Boxscore (.html)
A'uston Calhoun Postgame Audio
Louis Orr Postgame Audio
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Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team shot 62 percent from the floor in the second half and the Falcons rolled to a 71-58 Mid-American Conference victory over Central Michigan Wednesday night in the Stroh Center.

The win snapped a two-game home losing streak for the Falcons and pushed the team's conference record back to .500 at 3-3. Four players scored in double-figures for Bowling Green and six players had at least six points.

Bowling Green never trailed in the final 32 minutes, took a 10-point lead into the half and led by as many as 20 in the second half. Central Michigan closed the game on a 9-2 run to get the deficit down to 13, but the Falcons used an impressive shooting performance in the second half to put the game away.

Leading 31-21 at the half, the Falcons made six of their first seven shots in the second half to push the lead to 17. Two of those shots were Dee Brown three-pointers, the latter of which gave Bowling Green a 48-31 lead with 14:55 to play.

Central Michigan did use a 10-2 run to get back to within single digits but the Falcons answered with an identical 10-2 run, capped off by an A'uston Calhoun lay-up, that made it 60-43 with 7:06 left.

Scott Thomas' third three-pointer of the game gave Bowling Green its largest lead at 69-49 with 2:09 left before the Chippewas closed the game with a 9-2 run.

Thomas, Calhoun, and Jordon Crawford all finished with 14 points and Calhoun added 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. Crawford played an excellent game running the offense and had seven assists to go with only two turnovers. Bowling Green committed just 11 turnovers in the game, two less than Central Michigan.

Brown added 12 points, making 2-of-4 three-pointers, while Torian Oglesby came off the bench to score eight points on 3-of-3 shooting and block two shots. Cam Black finished with six points, three rebounds, three blocked shots, and three steals.

Thomas had yet another all-around game to go with his 14 points. He made 3-of-7 three-pointers, added eight rebounds, four steals, and two assists. It is his third consecutive game with at least four steals.

The one area that Central Michigan dominated came on the boards. The Chippewas held a 41-29 rebounding edge and grabbed a remarkable 25 offensive rebounds. That is the most the team has allowed in the five-year Louis Orr era. Those 25 offensive rebounds turned into a 27-13 Central Michigan advantage on second-chance points.

Bowling Green shot 51 percent from the floor for the game and held Central Michigan to 37 percent shooting. The Falcons also had their best night of the year from the line, making a season-high 18 free-throws and shooting a season-best 86 percent (18-of-21).

With the loss, Central Michigan falls to 7-12 on the year and 2-4 in MAC play. Bowling Green improves to 9-10 overall and evens its league record at 3-3. The Falcons will face Eastern Michigan, a team that is 9-11 overall and 4-2 in MAC play, Saturday in Ypsilanti at 6 p.m. That game will be televised regionally on SportsTime Ohio.