Falcons end road woes with win

Balanced effort lifts BG past Morehead State

12/16/2013
BLADE STAFF

MOREHEAD, Ky. — The Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team snapped several road streaks with a 67-61 victory at Morehead State on Sunday.

The win was the first nonconference road victory for the Falcons since they won at Florida International on Dec. 22, 2011. It also was the first overall road win for the Falcons since beating Northern Illinois last season on Feb. 6.

All five starters finished in double figures for Bowling Green (5-5), led by 17 points from Richaun Holmes. Jehvon Clarke and Spencer Parker each scored 12, while Cameron Black and Anthony Henderson posted 11.

Black also had 12 rebounds for his third double-double this season.

Brent Arrington scored 16 points to lead Morehead State (7-5), while Angelo Warner scored 15 and Billy Reader 11.

Bowling Green saw an early 8-5 lead evaporate when the Eagles used a 13-2 run to lead 18-10 at the 9:09 mark of the first half. Morehead State led 35-26 with 3:01 to play before an 8-3 finish by the Falcons cut the deficit to 38-34 at halftime.

The score was tied five times in the first 12 minutes of the second half before a three-point play by Holmes with 8:23 left gave BG the lead for good. Holmes scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half.

Henderson helped the Falcons extend the lead with back-to-back 3-pointers, and Holmes made a basket and 6-of-7 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Falcons shot 52.4 percent (11-of-21) in the second half, including 3-of-4 on 3-pointers, and made 48.9 percent of their shots from the floor (23-of-47) for the game.

By comparison, Morehead State made just 9-of-35 shots in the second half (25.7 percent) and just 22-of-72 for the contest (30.6 percent).

Bowling Green also recorded a season-high 14 blocked shots, the third straight game that the Falcons have recorded 10 or more blocks as a team.

Holmes tied his career high with seven blocks, while Black had a career-best five.

The Falcons’ next game will be at home when they host Detroit 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Stroh Center.