Falcons can't close out win

Bowling Green's Jordan Crawford looks for help against Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Anthony Hill. Crawford had 13 points.

BOWLING GREEN - Bowling Green State University generated plenty of points Saturday against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Joe Jakubowski pumped in a season-high 16 points to lead six Falcons in double figures.

But the Falcons came up short on the defensive end as Wisconsin-Milwaukee upended BG 90-83 in overtime before 1,321 at Anderson Arena.

"We didn't get stops," said Jakubowski, who also dished out a game-high seven assists. "As a team, we can't just play tag with someone because we're not that efficient. We know defense wins championships, so we have to get stops at the end.

"We didn't get stops tonight."

Otis Polk and Jordon Crawford added 13 points apiece, while Erik Marschall added 12, Dee Brown 11, and Scott Thomas finished with 10.

"It's a tough pill to swallow because we didn't close the game out, but the fact that we had a chance to win the game, late in the game, is a step in the right direction," coach Louis Orr said.

The Falcons (1-3) fell for the third straight contest since opening the season with a victory over Wayne State.

However, this loss played out much differently from the previous two in which they were blown out by Xavier (101-57) and Iowa (68-46).

The Falcons, who fell behind by as much as 12 points in the first half, were in position late to pull away from the Panthers (5-2).

When Thomas received a feed from Jakubowski and scored from close range with 1:21 left in the second half, it gave the Falcons a 74-69 lead over the Panthers.

However, they couldn't keep Wisconsin-Milwaukee's offensive punch in check over the final minute.

The Panthers, who were paced by Deonte Roberts' game-high 17 points, scored the final five points to send the game into overtime.

And BG's hopes to end a two-game losing streak came to an end after the Panthers outscored the Falcons 16-9 in OT.

"They hit a few shots, and they got on a roll and got on a run," Jakubowski said. "We didn't play good individual defense. We didn't play good team defense. It's something we need to work on because we're not going to win many games playing the way we played.

"I'm one of the biggest offenders. I need to pick up my defense too."

James Eayrs added 16 points for Wisconsin-Milwaukee, while Ricky Franklin finished with 13 and Lonnie Boga 11.

"I give Milwaukee credit, they made some plays on the offensive end and we didn't," Orr said. "But we did some good things. I thought we made strides from our last two games, but we don't play to be close. We play to win, especially at home."

According to the scoreboard, the Falcons went into halftime trailing the Panthers 35-31. However, it was determined afterward the Panthers actually were credited with two extra points and should have only been leading by two, instead of four.

"If it happened, it's unfortunate," Orr said. "It's over and what are you going to do about it."