Bowling Green Beats Toledo In Double-OT Thriller, 104-100

Saturday, February 4

Bowling Green, OH

4:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

10-13 (4-6)

104

100

Toledo

11-12 (4-6)

OT 1

OT 2

TOLEDO

100

Bowling Green

104

February 04, 2017 | Men's Basketball, The Battle Of I-75

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Highlights: BGSU vs. Toledo
Post-Game Video: Coach Huger | Zack Denny
Photo Gallery: Bianca Garza (BGSU Marketing & Communications)
Photo Gallery: Larry Clapper
Post-Game Audio: Coach Huger With Todd Walker
Todd Walker Calls: Malik Buzzer Beater | Lillard Layup | Denny For The Lead | Lillard Gives BG The Lead
More Calls: Denny Sends Game to 2OT | Denny THREE | Wes Bucket In 2OT | Denny 3 in 2OT
Final Calls: Denny Forces Turnover | BGSU BEATS TOLEDO!!!
Final Statistics: PDF | HTML

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Behind senior Zack Denny's incredible heroics and career-high 30 points, the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team defeated arch-rival University of Toledo, 104-100, in double overtime at the Stroh Center on Feb. 4. A crowd of 2,676 witnessed BGSU's first win over Toledo since Feb. 11, 2012. The win snapped Toledo's six-game winning streak over the Falcons.

Bowling Green erased a seven-point deficit in the first overtime, and a five-point deficit in the second overtime. The Falcons also trailed by seven points midway through the second half. Toledo appeared to have the game wrapped up after Jonathan Williams hit three free throws to give the Rockets an 87-80 lead with just 1:48 to go in the first overtime.

However, senior Wes Alcegaire, who finished with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, scored six-straight points, including a jumper to pull the Falcons within a single point at 87-86 with 40 seconds to go.

Toledo's Jaelan Sanford answered with a dagger-type, fading-away jumper as the shot clock expired with 12 seconds left. The jumper gave Toledo an 89-86 lead. Bowling Green then rushed the ball passed half court and called a timeout.

Michael Huger set up a perfect play that gave Denny a wide-open triple. Denny hit the three-pointer from the right wing to tie the score at 89-89 with six seconds left. Sanford went coast-to-coast for Toledo, and his shot appeared to be sliding in, but it popped out, and the game went to double overtime.

In the second OT, the Rockets quickly jumped out to a 94-89 lead less than a minute into the session. However, Alcegaire converted on a three-pointer, and then Ismail Ali, who had 10 points, seven assists and just one turnover, scored a tough layup to knot the game at 94-94 with 2:54 to go.

UT's Jordan Lauf put the Rockets back on top, 97-94, on Toledo's 14th three-pointer of the game. After that, Denny completely took over and scored Bowling Green's final 10 points of the contest.

With the Falcons down by three, he hit two free throws to bring the Falcons within one with two minutes to go. Sanford countered with a layup, but Denny tied the score at 99-99 with just 1:18 to go
with another three-ball. Luke Knapke of Toledo split a pair of free throws with 46 seconds remaining, prior to Denny hitting the game-winning triple. His triple gave BG a 102-100 lead with 28 seconds left on the clock.

Sanford attempted a desperation three-ball on the other end that hit the front rim. Toledo got the rebound, but Denny's pressure forced a Sanford back-court violation. The Falcons successfully inbounded the basketball to Denny, who hit two game-sealing free throws for his 29th and 30th points of the game.

To go along with his career-high 30 points, Denny added seven rebounds and six steals. He went 8-for-11 from the floor, and a perfect 5-for-5 from deep. He also went 9-for-11 from the charity stripe. Alcegaire went 2-for-2 from behind the long line, and also chipped in with five rebounds.

Toledo native Demajeo Wiggins scored 14 second-half points to finish with 16 points and seven rebounds. He went 7-for-13 from the field, and also contributed with two steals. Fellow sophomore Antwon Lillard went 4-for-8, and posted 12 points, two rebounds, one assist and one block.

Freshman Dylan Frye made his only three-point attempt of the game, and finished with five points on 2-of-4 shooting. Sophomore Malik Hluchoweckyj broke a UT players ankles and scored a layup at the first-half buzzer. Freshman Rodrick Caldwell had two points and two assists, while junior Matt Fox made his only field goal attempt of the game – a three-pointer – to finish with three points.

Redshirt-sophomore Rasheed Worrell had two points and one rebound.

Bowling Green heads to Kent State on Tuesday (Feb. 7) for a 7 p.m. tip. The Falcons will then return to the Stroh Center to face Buffalo on Feb. 11. The game is slated to tip-off at 12 p.m. Bowling Green will then hit the road the following week for a pair of road games at Western Michigan (Feb. 14) and Ohio (Feb. 18).

Post-Game Notes
* The win for BGSU was its first over Toledo since Feb. 11, 2012.
* The win for BGSU snapped a six-game losing streak to Toledo.
* The win was Bowling Green's 80th all-time victory over Toledo.
* The victory was BG's first over Toledo in the Michael Huger era.
* The Falcons shot a season-high 58.7 percent (37-of-63) from the field, and a season-high 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from three-point range.
* The game was the program's first-ever overtime game at the Stroh Center.
* The game marked the first-ever time that BG and UT played a game that went into double overtime.
* Bowling Green last played in an overtime game two years ago to the day, as the Falcons won at Central Michigan on Feb. 4, 2015.
* Prior to tonight, the Falcons last double overtime game took place on Jan. 8, 2011, when BGSU won at Buffalo.
* The game marked the 15th time that a BG-UT game was decided in overtime.
* Bowling Green's 104 points were the most scored in a Bowling Green-Toledo game.
* Bowling Green scored 100-plus points against Toledo for the first-time ever. It was only the second time that a team scored 100-plus points in the game, as UT scored 103 points on Feb. 15, 1967.
* Prior to BG's 104 points tonight, the Falcons last scored 100-plus points on Nov. 9, 2013. The Falcons scored 102 points versus Earlham.
* BGSU moves to 2-2 versus Toledo all-time at the Stroh Center. The Falcons beat the Rockets in the first-ever Battle of I-75 game played at the Stroh Center on Feb. 11, 2012.
* Bowling Green has won two-consecutive MAC games for the first time since BG beat Ohio (Jan. 12, 2016) an Eastern Michigan (Jan. 16, 2016) in 2015-16.
* Senior Zack Denny scored a career-high 30 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 5-for-5 mark from downtown. Denny, who also had seven rebounds and six steals, scored BG's last 10 points of the game.
* By going 5-for-5 from downtown, Denny moved from 10th place to 7th place on the program's all-time three-point field goals list. Denny has made 133-career triples.
* Denny's 30 points were the most from a Falcon since Spencer Parker scored 33 points in a win at Detroit Mercy on Dec. 12, 2015.
* Senior Wes Alcegaire followed up his career-high 25 points earlier in the week versus Miami by dropping 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He went 2-for-2 from deep.
* Denny and Alcegaire both scored over 20 points, marking the first time that has happened in a game since last season's home win over Ohio on Feb. 23, 2016.
* The Falcons had five players score in double figures for the second time this season. All five of BG's starters scored in double figures in the MAC opener at Akron on Jan. 3.