YOUNGSTOWN — Bowling Green’s men’s basketball team scored a season-high 46 points in the first half, but
could not hold on in the second 20 minutes, dropping an 83-76 decision to Youngstown State.
The game was part of the ESPN BracketBuster series. The Falcons are 12-15 overall.
“It comes down to our defense. We aren’t stringing stops together and our opponents are shooting too high
of a percentage,” BG head coach Louis Orr said. “In the second half of games lately, we’ve been playing
tag. Offensively, we haven’t shot as well in the second half and our opponents have shot better.”
BG shot 60.6 percent from the field in the first half with Jordon Crawford scoring 13 points and A’uston
Calhoun adding 12. Youngstown State stayed close by making seven 3-pointers and committing only two
turnovers.
The Falcons went into the break with a 46-43 lead.
There were three ties and seven lead changes in the second half, most coming during the first 10 minutes
of the half.
With Youngstown State holding a 62-61 lead. BG’s Danny McElroy scored inside and teammate Torian Oglesby
had a dunk to put the Falcons back in the lead, 65-62 with 10:04 left in the game.
The Penguins then went on a 12-0 run to take control of the Falcons were scoreless for a span of 5:37.
Luke Kraus’ 3-pointer with 4:27 left, cut YSU’s lead to 75-68. YSU scored the next five points for the
team’s largest lead of the game at 11 points, 79-68, with 2:14 left.
Kraus knocked down another 3-pointer and then Scott Thomas had a steal and Kraus hit another three 12
seconds later to cut the deficit to five. Over the next 78 seconds, Youngstown State missed the front
end of two 1-and-1 free-throw attempts but the Falcons came up empty on the offensive end.
Finally, Crawford found Thomas for a layup with 28 seconds left to make it 79-76, but the Penguins went
4-for-4 at the line to ice the game.
Thomas posted his seventh career double-double with 13 points and a career-best 14 rebounds, to go with
five assists. Crawford came off the bench to score 13 points and he added a career-high nine assists.
Calhoun led the team with 16 points and McElroy had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
YSU scored 40 points in the second half on 14-of-25 shooting and made 8-of-12 free-throw attempts.
For the game, the Penguins were 11-of-27 from 3-point range and had only six turnovers, half as many as
the Falcons.
“Our energy was good. Offensively, we were pretty good. We just haven’t guarded and we have to work at
that,” Orr said. “We have to bounce back.”
NOTES: Youngstown State improved to 9-18, with all nine wins coming at home … It was YSU’s first win
over BG since 1943 … BG held a 38-31 rebounding advantage … The Falcons got 37 points from their
bench … BG plays at Ohio Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in a game televised on SportsTime Ohio.
YOUNGSTOWN ST. 83, BOWLING GREEN 76
BOWLING GREEN
Thomas 5-10 2-4 13, Calhoun 7-17 2-4 16, Oglesby 1-2 2-4 4, Jakubowski 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 3-6 0-2 6,
Crawford 5-9 0-0 13, Kraus 3-8 0-0 9, Erger 1-1 0-0 3, Sealey 1-1 0-1 2, McElroy 5-6 0-0 10, Black 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 31-61 6-15 76.
YOUNGSTOWN ST/
Eargle 6-8 3-7 15, Sulskis 6-11 3-5 17, Allen 1-3 4-4 7, K. Perry 3-9 0-3 7, Ward 8-14 1-1 23, Brooks
4-11 1-1 10, Brewer 1-2 0-0 2, Boudler 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 30-59 12-21 83.
Halftime—Bowling Green 46-43. 3-Point Goals—Bowling Green 8-19 (Crawford 3-4, Kraus 3-5, Erger 1-1,
Thomas 1-4, Jakubowski 0-1, Brown 0-2, Calhoun 0-2), Youngstown St. 11-27 (Ward 6-11, Sulskis 2-5, Allen
1-3, Brooks 1-3, K. Perry 1-4, Brewer 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Bowling Green 38 (Thomas 14),
Youngstown St. 31 (Brooks, Ward 6). Assists—Bowling Green 21 (Crawford 9), Youngstown St. 24 (K. Perry
9). Total Fouls—Bowling Green 16, Youngstown St. 11. A—2,729.
