The 2-3 zone defense has been used by the Bowling Green Falcon men’s basketball team to frustrate
opponents on numerous occasions during Louis Orr’s tenure as head coach.
On Wednesday night, Eastern Michigan threw its version of the 2-3 zone at the Falcons, and it wasn’t
pretty for Bowling Green.
In the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams, the Falcons struggled to score and the Eagles were
able to carve out a 56-51 victory. PHOTO GALLERY
”The zone
was tough. They have such a small, athletic team with a 7-footer to protect the paint, and it’s hard to
get easy looks,” BG’s Richaun Holmes said. ”At the same time, I feel like we had a few shots that we
just didn’t convert on.
”They play really good half-court defense. I’ll give them credit for their zone, but most of it is on us
for not knocking down the shots we had.”
For the game, the Falcons were 16-of-52 (30.8 percent) from the field, 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) on
3-pointers, and 16-of-28 (57.1 percent) from the free-throw line.
”They play their zone high, they play their wings up, so it’s almost like they have four guys on the
foul line extended,” Orr said. ”They do a nice job of covering the floor.
”You have got to be able to get in that lane, and you have got to be able to manufacture baskets, and
second-chance points,” Orr added.
Eastern Michigan led 24-23 at the half, but a three-point play from BG’s Spencer Parker tied the score at
26 with 18:08 left in the game.
However, the Falcons did not make another shot from the field until Anthony Henderson converted a
three-point play with 12:32 remaining. The basket and free throw cut EMU’s lead to 36-33 as the Eagles
didn’t really take advantage of BG’s shooting woes.
Henderson nailed a 3-pointer with 11:53 left to tie the score at 36.
Then Eastern Michigan essentially put the game away with a 7-0 run over the next 2:47.
”We went on a run, and they came back and answered our run,” Holmes said. ”Basketball is a game of
runs. They made their run, and I don’t think we ever recovered from that.”
The Eagles would continue to add to their lead, and were up 54-43 with 1:29 left,
”In the second half I think we got stuck with the ball late in the (shot) clock,” Orr said. ”We
weren’t able to get the ball in the places that we wanted to as much.”
The Falcons closed the game on an 8-2 run to account for the final five-point margin.
”When you play Eastern Michigan, they do a good job on the defensive end really making you have to work
to score, especially in the half-court,” Orr said. ”That really makes every possession big because of
the tempo of the game … Man or zone we have just got to get better.
”We’re not a great 3-point shooting team; that’s not something we try to do a whole lot of,” Orr added.
”When we get the ball around the basket and we get the shots we want, we have got to shoot them with
confidence, and we have to knock them down."
Holmes led the Falcons with 17 points, with only five coming in the second half. EMU’s defense kept
Holmes out of the offensive flow of the second half as he attempted only three shots from the field
despite playing all 20 minutes.
Jehvon Clarke finished with 11 points for BG while Henderson and Parker each added 10.
NOTES: BG is 6-8 overall, having lost three straight … EMU is 9-5 … There were three technical fouls
called, two on EMU, after a shoving match with 13:04 left in the game … The game was tied seven times
and there were seven lead changes … BG held a 38-37 rebounding edge with Cameron Black picking off
nine rebounds, and Holmes adding seven … BG got 17 points off EMU’s 12 turnovers and scored 14
second-chance points off 10 offensive rebounds … BG’s bench contributed one point … The Falcons host
Northern Illinois Sunday with tipoff at 4:30 p.m. …. BG’s women face Akron in a 2 p.m. start in the
first game of the Sunday doubleheader.
E. MICHIGAN 56, BOWLING GREEN 51
E. MICHIGAN (9-5)
Ward 3-7 6-9 13, Bryant 4-7 1-2 9, Riley 2-4 1-1 5, Lee 0-8 5-6 5, Talley 4-10 6-8 14, Hughley 0-0 0-0 0,
Ajayi 0-1 1-2 1, Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Combs 3-7 1-2 7, Strickland 0-1 0-0 0, Harrison 1-3
0-0 2. Totals 17-49 21-30 56.
BOWLING GREEN (6-8)
Parker 3-9 4-5 10, Holmes 5-10 7-13 17, Black 1-5 0-0 2, Henderson 3-9 3-4 10, Clarke 4-18 1-2 11, Gomez
0-0 0-0 0, Tisdale 0-1 1-4 1, Lyshe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-52 16-28 51.
Halftime—E. Michigan 24-23. 3-Point Goals—E. Michigan 1-7 (Ward 1-3, Harrison 0-1, Lee 0-1, Talley 0-2),
Bowling Green 3-16 (Clarke 2-9, Henderson 1-2, Tisdale 0-1, Holmes 0-2, Parker 0-2). Fouled
Out—Henderson, Riley. Rebounds—E. Michigan 37 (Bryant 8), Bowling Green 38 (Black 9). Assists—E.
Michigan 7 (Lee, Talley 2), Bowling Green 6 (Clarke, Tisdale 2). Total Fouls—E. Michigan 23, Bowling
Green 24. Technicals—Bryant, Ross, Tisdale. A—1,205.