AKRON — Despite struggling from the floor, Bowling Green’s men’s basketball team rallied to within four
points before stumbling down the stretch in a 91-67 conference loss to Akron on Tuesday.
The Falcons, who trailed just 60-56 with 10:33 to play after Antwon Lillard converted an and-one
opportunity, dropped to 20-10 overall and 12-5 in the MAC.
BG, which entered Tuesday’s game as the No. 2-seed, now trails both nationally-ranked Buffalo and Toledo
in the MAC standings. Buffalo (15-2) clinched its second consecutive conference crown and Toledo (12-5)
owns the tiebreaker over the Falcons due to its 78-71 rivalry win on Feb. 9.
The Falcons can still clinch the second seed with a win at Buffalo and a Toledo loss to Eastern Michigan
on Friday.
Bowling Green beat Buffalo 92-88 a month ago and Toledo lost to EMU 76-69 on Feb. 19.
Justin Turner led BG, scoring 17 of his team-high 21 points in the first half. The redshirt sophomore
capped his first-half run with a four-point play with 33 seconds left to bring BG within 41-37.
While trailing 6-4, Turner rattled off his own nine-point run, including three layups and a 3-pointer to
give the Falcons their biggest lead of the game, 13-7.
Michael Laster, continuing strong play from Falcon point guards, scored 12 points off the bench. The
Falcons’ backcourt duo combined to shoot 14 of 30 and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.
The rest of the Falcons shot 10 of 44 (22.7 percent) and 5 of 23 (21.7 percent) from deep.
Demajeo Wiggins was held scoreless for just the second time this season, shooting 0 of 3 and missing all
four foul shots. Wiggins was also scoreless in the team’s 19-point win over Ohio on Jan. 8.
Akron (16-14, 8-9 MAC) had three players score at least 20 points, finishing with its highest scoring
output since a 98-69 win over Youngstown State on Nov. 10.
Loren Cristian Jackson pumped in a season-high 31 points with a game-high eight rebounds to lead the
Zips. Daniel Utomi scored 21 and Tyler Cheese chipped in 20 points. The trio combined to make 12 of the
team’s 14 3-pointers.
BG, with a first-round bye, will open MAC tournament play in next Thursday’s quarterfinals.