If it’s not scoring, it’s defense, or a combination of both for Bowling Green.
The Falcon men are struggling going from first to a tie for last in the Mid-American Conference East in
less than a month. BG has lost four straight games and five of its last six.
BG, 12-16 overall and 7-6 in the MAC East, has three games regular season remaining in an effort to get
back on the winning track and possibly earn a first-round home game for the MAC tournament.
Offensively, opposing teams have been working hard to take away the open shots for Scott Thomas and Dee
Brown off the curl cuts at the elbow, a play the Falcons like to run a lot.
Defensively, the opposition has used different ways to attack BG’s zone. Some teams work very hard to get
the ball inside and others go inside-out and have hit the 3-pointers.
The Falcons have also been hurt by poor rebounding. For the season, opponents hold a 36.2-33.2 rebounding
edge over BG while averaging 11.2 offensive rebounds per game.
During BG’s current four-game losing streak, BG has been out-rebounded 149-123, with opponents grabbing
44 offensive rebounds, resulting in 38 second-chance points.
The Falcons look to break their losing streak Saturday at Miami with tipoff at 11 a.m. The game will be
televised on ESPNU.
SCOUTING MIAMI: Miami is 14-14 overall and 9-4 in the MAC East. Kent leads the division at 10-3.
The RedHawks were 3-2 in their first trip through the MAC East. Miami got back into the title chase, by
going 5-1 against the MAC West and then beating Kent State to start the second swing through the MAC
East.
Miami is coming off a 72-55 loss to Akron.
Julian Mavunga, a 6-foot-8 junior, is leading the RedHawks, averaging 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per
game. Nick Winbush, a 6-7 senior, is averaging 12.5 ppg and has made 59 3-pointers.
Allen Roberts, a 6-3 sophomore, and Orlando Williams, a 6-4, sophomore have played well for Miami during
the MAC season.
Miami is without Antonio Ballard, a 6-4 senior, who was averaging 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game
before suffering a broken arm when he was attempting a dunk against Central Michigan on Jan. 27. CMU’s
Andre Coimbra was called for an intentional foul on the play.
In the first meeting with Miami, BG was losing when Orr turned to his bench – Jordon Crawford, Luke
Kraus, Danny McElroy, Torian Oglesby and James Erger -and the five substitutes contributed 33 points, 10
rebounds, 11 assists, sevens steals, two blocked shots and only two turnovers and put on a whole lot of
defensive pressure as the Falcons rallied for a 62-53 win.
KRAUS: BG’s Luke Kraus was ejected from the game after a flagrant foul on Ohio’s Tommy Freeman with 18
seconds remaining Wednesday,
BG athletic department officials said Thursday Kraus would not be suspended by the MAC for his actions in
the Ohio game.
NEXT: BG hosts Kent State Tuesday with tipoff at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on SportsTime Ohio.
