Turnovers and missed shots led to the demise of the Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team
Saturday.
Miami took advantage of BG’s problems and posted a 70-65 win to end Bowling Green’s three-game winning
streak.
‘‘We didn’t come out with the same enthusiasm as the previous games during the streak,’’ BG junior Jehvon
Clarke said. ‘‘That was the biggest hindsight during the game. We came out flat and we were content. We
were content at where we were at; we didn’t focus on the game at hand.
‘‘We didn’t come to play tonight.’’
Bowling Green, 9-10 overall and 3-3 in the Mid-American Conference, turned the ball over 14 times,
resulting in 18 points for Miami, 8-9, 4-2.
The Falcons were 13-of-33 from the field (39.4 percent) in the second half, and 23-of-55 (41.8 percent)
for the game.
‘‘The grind part of the game, the stops, the defense … That’s how Miami plays, they grind,’’ BG head
coach Louis Orr said. ‘‘If the game is not flowing offensively, easy, you have to be willing and able to
grind too.’’
Bowling Green held an eight-point lead with 12:54 to play in the first half.
But Miami closed the first half on a 30-14 run to take a 36-28 lead into the break. The Falcons were
4-of-12 from the field, 5-of-11 from the free-throw line, and had six turnovers during Miami’s run to
end the half.
‘‘They kind of took us off our rhythm with their zone … We didn’t expect that,’’ Clarke said.
In the second half, BG was within 47-45 when Spencer Parker split a pair of free throws with 9:30 left in
the game.
However, Miami’s Will Sullivan nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key and was fouled. He made the
free throw to complete the four-point play and push the RedHawks lead back to six points with 8:52 to
play.
Miami was still up nine, 61-52, with 1:14 remaining, but BG hit three 3-pointers in the last 18 seconds
of the game to account for the final margin. The RedHawks countered BG’s triples, by going 9-of-10 from
the line in the final 33 seconds.
‘‘We didn’t get enough transition points,’’ Clarke said. ‘‘In order to create transition offense, you
have got to get some stops down the stretch. That was the biggest point of the game, we didn’t get
enough stops down the stretch.’’
While Miami was scoring off turnovers, BG scored only five points off 12 RedHawk turnovers.
‘‘When you can create offense from turnovers, it makes the game a lot easier, and we didn’t do that,’’
Clarke said.
Clarke scored a career-high 22 points for the Falcons, but he had six turnovers. Anthony Henderson added
15 points for Bowling Green.
‘‘You’ve got to stay hungry, and you can’t be satisfied,’’ Orr said. ‘‘Miami played with more hunger …
from deep down in the gut, and I didn’t see that in us.
‘‘Give Miami credit, they try to take away your big guys. We really couldn’t take advantage of our
size,’’ Orr added.
Sullivan, who was 4-of-6 on 3-pointers, and Willie Moore, who was 12-of-12 from the free-throw line, each
scored 16 points for Miami.
The Falcons play at Eastern Michigan Wednesday with tipoff at 7 p.m.
‘‘We have to go into the next game with the mind-set to get better … We have to be ready to play,’’
Clarke said.
NOTES: BG held a 34-30 rebounding edge with Cameron Black having a game-high nine rebounds, and Parker
grabbing eight missed shots … The Falcons used only seven players in the game with four players
playing at least 33 minutes … Zach Denny and Craig Sealey were not in uniform for the Falcons …
Miami has won three straight games … Miami was aided by a 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) effort from the
free-throw line in the game … Miami’s bench held a 26-11 scoring edge.
MIAMI 70, BOWLING GREEN 65
MIAMI (8-9)
Oswald 2-5 0-0 4, Felder 4-7 4-5 12, McKnight 1-4 0-1 2, Rollins 4-7 2-3 10, Sullivan 5-8 2-3 16, Eustace
2-2 2-2 8, Edwards 1-4 0-0 2, Moore 2-8 12-12 16. Totals 21-45 22-26 70.
BOWLING GREEN (9-10)
Parker 2-7 2-4 6, Holmes 4-7 1-2 9, Black 1-4 0-0 2, Henderson 5-13 1-3 15, Clarke 8-16 2-2 22, Tisdale
1-4 2-4 4, Lyshe 2-4 1-2 7. Totals 23-55 9-17 65.
Halftime—Miami (Ohio) 36-28. 3-Point Goals—Miami (Ohio) 6-16 (Sullivan 4-6, Eustace 2-2, Oswald 0-1,
McKnight 0-1, Edwards 0-2, Moore 0-4), Bowling Green 10-23 (Clarke 4-8, Henderson 4-9, Lyshe 2-4, Parker
0-1, Holmes 0-1). Fouled Out—Henderson, Tisdale. Rebounds—Miami (Ohio) 30 (Edwards 7), Bowling Green 34
(Black 9). Assists—Miami (Ohio) 10 (McKnight, Moore 3), Bowling Green 16 (Clarke 6). Total Fouls—Miami
(Ohio) 16, Bowling Green 21. A—1,797.