Falcons fall to Bulls

Rally by Buffalo spoils bid for 5th seed in tourney

3/4/2012
BLADE STAFF

BUFFALO -- The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team let a golden opportunity slip away, dropping a 68-64 decision to Buffalo in the final regular season game for the Falcons.

Buffalo finished the game on a 7-0 run to deny Bowling Green the fifth seed for the upcoming Mid-American Conference tournament. With the defeat, Bowling Green (16-14, 9-7 MAC) is the No. 6 seed and will host No. 11 seed Central Michigan Monday at 7 p.m. in the Stroh Center.

The Falcons knew coming into the game that they had a chance to move up because Toledo knocked off Eastern Michigan earlier in the day. A combination of a Toledo victory and a Bowling Green road win would have given the Falcons a home date against Northern Illinois, and it looked like that was going to become a reality when Jordon Crawford drilled a 3-pointer with 1:34 remaining to put the Falcons ahead 64-61.

But those were the final points BG would score. Buffalo's Mitchell Watt drained a short jumper to cut the lead to 64-63 with 1:14 left. After A'uston Calhoun missed from the outside, Watt struck again, draining a shot to give the Bulls a 65-64 lead.

After two Buffalo free throws, the Falcons got a chance to cut into the lead or send the game into overtime, but Dee Brown missed a jumper. James Erger grabbed the offensive rebound, but Crawford missed a 3-pointer to seal the win for the Bulls.

Watt led Buffalo (19-9, 12-4) with 20 points, including 14 in the second half. Javon McCrea added 11 for Buffalo, which locked up the second seed for the MAC tournament.

Calhoun scored 23 for the Falcons, who allowed the Bulls to shoot 64.7 percent in the second half. BG led 31-30 at the half. Brown added 15 and Crawford chipped in with 13.