| BG’s Torian Oglesby passes over Akron’s Brett McClanahan (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune) |
Sometimes people all get complex about sports, looking for trends and reasons why certain things happened
or didn’t happen during a game.
However, many times, it’s pretty simple.
Take, for example, Akron’s 89-54 victory over Bowling Green Tuesday night in Anderson Arena.
“They did a lot of things right and we didn’t do many things right,” BG head coach Louis Orr said about
the drubbing. “It was a tough game to watch; we didn’t have any answers, offensively (or) defensively.”
For Akron head Keith Dambrot, the Zips are doing a lot right of late, going 6-2 in the last eight games.
“They just caught us on probably our best game in the seven years I’ve been here,” Dambrot said. “We just
went into the game trying to attack and not be tentative against the zone. That’s really what we did.
“We have a little front-running tendency … and when things go well, we’re pretty good,” he added.
It started with the 3-point arc. Akron was 7-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first half while BG was
0-of-5 as the Zips were up 41-23 at the break.
At one point in the second half, the Zips were 16-of-24 on threes and finished 16-of-28 as the bench
players missed some shots down the stretch. The Falcons finished 0-of-8 on threes.
“We didn’t play very good defense tonight,” BG’s Scott Thomas said. “Our rotations weren’t there. They
got wide open threes, that weren’t contested.
“We prepared for them. We knew what they were going to run. We just didn’t come out and execute our game
plan on defense.”
Brent McClanahan led the 3-point parade making 6-of-7 and Darryl Roberts was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc
for the Zips.
Dambrot said the Zips got a lot of open looks against both BG’s zone and BG’s trapping pressure, which
allowed his team to be aggressive from beyond the arc.
Akron also hit the boards, holding a 44-33 edge in rebounding, and played good defense, making Thomas and
A’uston Calhoun work for their points. Calhoun finished with 18 points and Thomas added 10. The two
combined to shoot 9-of-27 from the floor.
“We had a poor shooting night,” Orr said. “You can’t let a team shoot 55 percent and go 16-of-28 on
threes and then you shoot 30 percent and go 0-for-8 on threes. You put those two together; I don’t know
if they always add up to a 35-point loss, but they did tonight.”
The Falcons were within 17-14 after a Torian Oglesby layup with 10:34 left in the first half. The Zips
then took control of the game, going on a 20-3 run over a span of 8:32. BG’s only points in the run were
a basket from Calhoun and a free throw from Oglesby.
In the second half, Akron led by 40 at one point before settling for the 35-point win.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and figure out how we can defend and get better. That’s
something I have to do as a coach,” Orr said. “It’s definitely an attention-getter for me. It’s all
about how you respond.”
NOTES: BG is 12-14 overall while Akron is 16-10 … BG, Buffalo and Akron are tied for third in the MAC
East at 7-5 … The 16 made 3-pointers are an Anderson Arena record for an opponent … The 35-point
loss is not the worst loss this season for the Falcons … Duquesne beat the Falcons, 90-54 on Nov. 22
… Thomas led BG with eight rebounds while Calhoun had six rebounds and three steals … BG plays at
Youngstown State Saturday in the BracketBuster with tipoff at 7:05 p.m.
