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Physical Bowling Green punishes Ohio 69-54

Holmes dominates with 18 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks


Lonnie McMillan Photo
BOWLING GREEN - Ohio shot less than 30 percent in the second half and only 33.3 percent overall as it suffered a 69-54 loss to Bowling Green Saturday at the Stroh Center.

The Falcons shot 48.3 percent in the second half and pulled away after leading 34-29 at halftime.

Ryan Taylor led Ohio with 16 points and Maurice Ndour had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Ohio (5-8, 0-2 Mid-American Conference) did not have an answer for Richaun Holmes, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, and five blocks. Zack Denny scored 11 points, and Anthony Henderson finished with 10.

"They were the more physical, aggressive team," Ohio coach Saul Phillips said. "They did some very, very good things in terms of crowding the paint on Maurice, but overall, it was just a mentality. In a very legal way, they got very aggressive with us, and we didn't handle it very well."

Bowling Green (10-3, 2-0 MAC) went on a 15-3 run midway through the second half to put away Ohio, with a Holmes dunk giving the Falcons a 59-41 lead with 7:43 remaining.

Ohio committed only five turnovers in the second half, but Bowling Green turned those mistakes into 10 points.

"We didn't just turn them over," Bowling Green coach Chris Jans said. "They turned into dunks, 3s, layups. Those are backbreakers."

The Falcons never trailed. they scored the game's first six points with the Bobcats missing a layup and committing two turnovers on their first three possessions.

Denny hit a 3-pointer to put Bowling green up 9-2, but Ohio hung close in the first half despite a poor shooting effort. On multiple occasions, the Bobcats got within one possession - they trailed 9-7, 11-9, 16-14, 19-16, 21-18, 27-24 and 31-29 - but the Falcons did not allow their lead to slip away.

Treg Setty hit a corner 3-pointer with 1:46 left in the first half to draw Ohio within two, but Holmes answered with a trey with the shot clock winding down, and Bowling Green took a five-point lead into the locker room.

"They played just more physical," Ohio forward Antonio Campbell said. "... We played soft. That's it."

Ndour hit a shot for Ohio to begin the second half, and Ohio had a chance to get closer, but instead, a turnover led to a Denny layup on the other end. A few minutes later, Henderson sank a 3-pointer, and Holmes threw down a dunk off another turnover to make it a 10-point game.

Ohio closed to 41-36 on a Stevie Taylor 3-pointer and trailed 44-38 on a Setty layup when things really fell apart.

Lonnie McMillan Photo
Other than a Matt Fox 3-pointer, all of Bowling Green's points during its 15-3 run were scored in the paint.

"Holmes is a heck of a player" Phillips said. "He got physical with us. We came in and we kicked it around the first couple of possessions and then dug right back into it. Without getting specific at all with any individual player, if you ask which team was the aggressor today, it was them. I don't like it. Our guys don't like it. We've got to do something about it."

Ohio's offensive struggles were highlighted in a series in the second half during the Falcons' run. Javarez Willis air-balled a 3-pointer, but redshirt freshman Khari Harley grabbed it with no one around under the hoop. His attempt to slam the ball was blocked by the rim, and he was called for a travel after he fell down with the ball.

For the second game in a row, leading scorer Javarez Willis struggled, finishing with only five points on 1-of-9 shooting, including 0-for-6 shooting on 3-pointers.

"Hypnosis, acupuncture, a trip to Golden Corral," Phillips said when asked how to get Willis's shooting on target again. "Get in the gym and shoot. I'll have to go back and review the tape. My initial review is his shot selection wasn't completely awful. ... I don't think the volume of shots he took was too many. Bean will hit more than that in the future."

Stevie Taylor was 3-for-10 from the field, and even Ndour was off the mark, going 4-of-10. Ryan Taylor was the only player for Ohio to shoot better than 50 percent from the field at 5-for-9.

Holmes, on the other hand, was the model of efficiency, going 7-of-9. Bowling Green shot 44.1 percent for the game, including 48.3 percent in the second half.

Getting in the win column in MAC play will not be easy for Ohio with a home date against Toledo up next.

"We're going to win plenty of MAC games over the years, but, boy, I want this team to have something good happen to them," Phillips said. "I want them to feel good about themselves."

The Bobcats host the Rockets at 7 p.m. Wednesday at The Convo.

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Photos  (BobcatAttack.com)







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