Big first half lifts WMU men past Falcons (2-5-11)

With Ball State knocking off Buffalo Saturday afternoon, Bowling Green’s men’s basketball team had the
opportunity to take over sole possession of first place in the Mid-American Conference East.
Western Michigan made sure that didn’t happen.
The Broncos used accurate 3-point shooting and strong rebounding combined with scoring points off BG’s
turnovers, to down the Falcons, 75-61. BG, 11-12 overall, is now tied for second place in the East with
Buffalo and Miami at 6-3. Kent State is first at 6-2.
“We emphasize to them that we have a lot to win for, every time that we step on this court and that every
game counts,” BG head coach Louis Orr said. “Playing hard and winning the hustle plays, I don’t believe
that is a given yet with this team.
“In the MAC since we won at Buffalo, we’ve been fighting for first place.”
The Broncos took control of the game early, hitting on 6-of-9 3-pointers, and turning eight BG turnovers
into 15 points.
“We didn’t guard in the first half, we didn’t defend,” Orr said.
Western led by one, 9-8, with 14:32 left in the first half and just kept expanding the margin, until it
was 41-22 with eight seconds left in the half. A 3-pointer by BG’s Dee Brown cut Western’s lead to 41-25
at the break.
“I thought our kids did a terrific job of having patience against a Bowling Green team, whose zone
(defense) has just wrecked havoc throughout the conference in the first half of league play,” said WMU
head coach Steve Hawkins.
“Their offense was flowing. Everybody had a good rhythm. It’s hard to stop a team when they come out like
that and contain them for the rest of the game,” said BG’s A’uston Calhoun.
Calhoun led BG’s comeback effort in the second half, scoring 21 of his game-high 23 points in the final
20 minutes.
Calhoun was able to take advantage of mismatches inside when the Broncos switched during BG’s circle
motion offense.
“We started switching a lot of that when they would come off of those screens and sometimes that put a
point-guard or one of our off-guards on Calhoun down low,” Hawkins said. “I was willing to live with
that, since they sort of break rhythm to get the ball inside … We had to give up something.”

A pair of Scott Thomas free throws with 3:50 left in the game, brought the Falcons to within 60-55, but
Bowling Green could get no closer.
“In the second half, we fought. We didn’t quit,” Orr said. “We played the game better. We played the game
inside-out in the second half … But we still had some possessions that were empty where I thought we
shot a quick three, a quick perimeter shot, too many times and that hurt us too.
“We’ve got to be smarter on offense.”
BG was within six, 65-59, with 1:32, but the Broncos closed things out by making eight free throws in the
final minute.
“This is a game we very easily could have tossed away 15 games ago with our youth and our immaturity,”
Hawkins said. “We’ve grown a lot … You could tell in the huddle.”
The Broncos enjoyed a field day on the boards in the second half, out-rebounding BG 26-14, including 13
offensive rebounds which they turned into 10 second-chance points.
“We wanted to make sure we crashed the boards, but unfortunately we had a poor effort on that,” Calhoun
said. “It seemed like everybody on Western wanted it more. They came at us, they stepped to us first
instead of us stepping to them and that gave them an advantage.”
For the game Western out-rebounded BG 44-25, including 18 offensive rebounds.
“That was one of our key points, we had to a good job on the defensive boards. That was a point of
emphasis and we didn’t (respond),” Orr said.
In addition to Calhoun’s 23 points and team-high seven rebounds, Scott Thomas had 15 points and five
assists, Danny McElroy scored 12 points and Jordon Crawford had six assists and no turnovers..
Juwan Howard Jr. led WMU with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.
“It’s his birthday,” Hawkins said. “The kid does not lack for confidence. If he gets a glimpse at the
rim, he’s going to take the shot.”
NOTES: WMU is now 12-9 overall and 5-3 in the MAC West … For the game, the Broncos scored 24 points off
12 BG turnovers and had 17 second-chance points off 18 offensive rebounds … Hawkins’ teams are now
10-1 against the Falcons … The Falcons host Ball State Wednesday at 7 p.m.