Bowling Green State University 6-foot-6 senior forward Daeqwon Plowden scored 21 first half points to give the Falcons a 37-33 halftime lead over Kent State Saturday at the Stroh Center.

The Golden Flashes responded with 58 points of their own in the second half to take down the Falcons, 91-83, in Mid-American Conference action. BGSU falls to 11-10 overall and 4-6 in the MAC.

“I thought it was a well-played game by both teams,” BGSU coach Michael Huger said. “I thought we didn’t defend the way we are capable of.

“It’s frustrating on the defensive end when you don’t execute the way you are supposed to,” Huger continued. “It’s the game right there and we have to do a better job.

“We have to continue to work, continue to get better, and improve on the defensive end. We show every night that we can score enough points, now we have to get enough stops in order to win the games.”

Plowden blamed the second half giveaway to a lack of effort by the Falcons.

“I felt like our energy went down from there,” Plowden said. “Our game just kind of like spiraled out of control.

“We have to keep our energy up, we have to keep our intensity up on the defensive end and we know that gives us a chance.”

Kent State junior guard Sincere Carry scored a game high 30 points with seven assists, four rebounds and two steals to lead the Flashes, who are now 11-9 overall and 6-4 in the MAC.

It is not the first time this season an opposing guard has burned the Falcons for 30-plus points.

“He do what he do,” Plowden said. “He is one of the top scorers on the team. I mean, he just went out and did what he was supposed to do.”

Huger added, “It’s energy and effort. You have to bring that every single night that you step on the court.

“Sometimes we think just because we have Bowling Green on our chest that we are just going to magically stop somebody, but that is not the case,” Huger continued. “You have got to go out and do it every single night and you have to bring that energy and effort.”

Kent State freshman forward VonCameron Davis had 17 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Graduate-student guard Andrew Garcia scored 13 points and junior guard Malique Jacobs had 11 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and blocked two shots for the Flashes.

The Flashes controlled the glass by a 39-27 count and scored 38 points in the paint, plus they shot 52% (33-for-64) from the field, made 9-of-22 triples (41%) and 16-of-22 free throws (73%).

Plowden said if the Falcons had stuck to their game plan like they did in the first half, there might have been a different outcome.

“That’s pretty much it — just executing on defense and executing our offense — pretty much on both ends” Plowden said.

“It is just knowing who their go-to guys are down the stretch, cleaning up on the glass — that makes up a lot, giving them all those second chance shots,” Plowden continued. “We just have to be that much more focused.”

Plowden only scored six more points in the second half to finish with 27 points and six rebounds. The Golden Flashes were paying more attention to him in the final 20 minutes.

“They just adjusted — that is all,” Plowden said. “They adjusted, so we adjusted at the same time.

“In the first half I was just doing my part giving us a lift, then once they adjusted that is when everybody else got freed up and we started to take advantage of them trying to double me.”

BGSU graduate student guard Myron Gordon had 13 points, eight assists and two steals, and junior forward Joe Reece had 12 points, three steals and blocked three shots.

BGSU was 26-for-56 (46%) from the field, 6-for-18 (33%) downtown and made 25-of-31 free throws (81%).

The game was tied 10 times and saw 10 lead changes, but BGSU sophomore guard Josiah Fulcher scored off a steal by Gordon to close out an 8-0 run and put the Falcons up, 60-54 with 10:09 remaining.

The Golden Flashes battled back and took the lead for good at 67-65 on a basket by Garcia with 7:20 remaining.

Kent State continued to pull away, going on a 17-4 run, to take a 76-69 lead with just under five minutes remaining, which proved to be too much to overcome.

“We have to be better finishing games and executing down the stretch,” Plowden said. “We went into the second half, and they did what they were supposed to do, executed down the stretch.

“We let our foot up basically, so we’ve got to keep our foot on the gas, when it comes down to stops especially at the end the game,” Plowden continued.

“We already know things are amped up that much more, but we have got to be more attentive to detail and want to get stops.”

For the Falcons, Fulcher scored nine points and had two assists, junior guard Chandler Turner scored nine, and senior forward Matiss Kulackovskis scored six points.

Sophomore guard Brenton Mills scored four points, graduate student forward Trey Diggs had two points and junior guard Samari Curtis had one point and four rebounds.

Kent State senior forward Justyn Hamilton had eight points and eight rebounds and sophomore guard Giovanni Santiago had five points and three assists.

Freshman guard Jalen Sullinger scored three points, and 6-9 freshman center Cli’Ron Hornbeak, a Toledo St. Francis product who started, scored the game’s first basket, but those were his only two points.

Sophomore guard Jeremiah Hernandez also added two points for the Golden Flashes.