BG overcomes 13-point deficit to slip past UT

University of Toledo player Julius Brown, 20, defends as Bowling Green State University Jordan Crawford, 1, puts up a shot during the first half at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University, Saturday. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

BOWLING GREEN -- It was a crazy, back-and-forth nailbiter between two rivals. There were huge runs for both teams, and there were times both squads seemed on the verge of getting blown out.

But in the end, there was one difference Saturday between the men's basketball teams from Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo.

The Falcons' three seniors -- Scott Thomas, Torian Oglesby, and Dee Brown -- all made key plays in the final moments of BG's 66-63 victory at the Stroh Center.

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"That's what seniors do," UT coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "And we don't have seniors."

Bowling Green got 21 points and six rebounds from Thomas, 11 points and four assists from Brown, and four points and eight boards from Oglesby to win its fourth consecutive contest after battling back from a 13-point deficit. A'uston Calhoun, a junior, added 20 points and 12 boards as the Falcons improved to 13-11 overall and 7-4 in the Mid-American Conference.

"I am seeing [the seniors] really emerge as leaders," BG coach Louis Orr said. "Dee Brown has really hit some big 3's in the last couple of games, and Scott hit some big shots.

"This is their last regular-season game against Toledo, and they showed how much they wanted to win. Upperclassmen have to play with that sense of urgency."

Julius Brown and Curtis Dennis each had 17 points, while Rian Pearson added 13 points and eight boards for the Rockets (11-14, 3-8).

The see-saw affair, which was played before a sellout crowd of 4,421, was knotted at 57 as Dee Brown hit a pair of free throws with 3:03 left. After a UT miss, BG's offense set up Thomas for a drive off a duck-in screen. Thomas drove the lane, scored, and was fouled, and he made the free throw to give the Falcons a 60-57 lead with 2:13 left.

"My guy was so focused on A'uston that I was able to get into the lane and finish the layup," Thomas said. "The hedge man backed up, and I had a guy on my hip -- I couldn't believe it was that wide open."

The Falcons' three-quarter court press then forced a Rockets turnover -- one of 18 by UT in the contest -- and Jordon Crawford's steal and layup made it a two-score contest with 1:42 on the clock.

"It's designed to take time off the clock, but I thought they were a little more aggressive than they have been in the past," Kowalczyk said of BG's three-quarter court press. "I thought we had some casualness [against that press], especially from veteran guards who should have made those plays."

UT's Dennis made a pair of 3-pointers late -- he was 5-for-6 from behind the arc in the contest -- but the Falcons never gave Toledo a shot that could have tied the game.

It was a crazy finish to a contest that saw both teams hold leads at different points. Bowling Green used the emotion of the partisan crowd at the start to lead 12-5 with 12:40 left in the first half.

"It was like a sugar fix -- it can wear off," Orr said. "We came out emotionally high, but then we hit some adversity as Toledo shot the ball really well.

"They got us on our heels."

Toledo made 5-of-9 3-pointers in the first half to get back into the game as Julius Brown scored nine points in a 12-0 run that gave the Rockets a 25-16 lead with 3:51 left. UT led 29-22 at the break, then expanded its advantage to 39-26 at the 16:20 mark of the second period.

But all that did was allow Bowling Green to make its largest comeback this season. The Falcons used a 16-5 run to get back into the contest, and eventually Calhoun used a tip-dunk to tie the game at 52 with 6:54 to play.

"I was just running down the floor, and I saw [Thomas] shoot an off-balance layup," Calhoun said. "I was just trying to get the rebound, but the ball came off just right.

"I jumped up to grab it, and I was high enough to throw it in. Usually I don't show too much emotion after a play, but the team and crowd got into it."

That set up the Falcons for the big victory, which moves them into a tie with Ohio for the fourth spot -- and a potential bye -- in the MAC tournament.

"It's a huge win for us," Thomas said. "We felt we didn't play well in the first half, and in the second half it felt like they made every 3 they threw [at the basket].

"But we buckled down and finished out strong."

Meanwhile, the Rockets fell to 2-7 in games decided by three points or less this season.

"We've tended to do that in the last five minutes of games, let it slip out of our hands," Pearson said. "I think it's a mindset, a lack of focus."

And while Kowalczyk was down, he certainly doesn't count his Rockets out.

"We're young, and we've had some frustrating moments," he said. "But we're going to get better, because we have a young nucleus.

"Don't feel sorry for Toledo -- we'll be fine."

Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com, 419-724-6481, or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.