FALCONS JUST A LITTLE TOO MUCH FOR TOLEDO

Toledo, OH – In a rare Tuesday evening game, the Toledo Rockets put up a strong fight against the Bowling Green Falcons at Savage Arena, but at the end of forty minutes the visitors escaped with a 70-64 win.

As basketball games go, I’d compare this one to a boxing match where the favorite was ahead on points but couldn’t shake the underdog who kept punching back out of sheer desire to catch up. The favorite never did deliver a knockout punch, but unlike your favorite Rocky movie, the home-town hero couldn’t quite snatch the win from the jaws of defeat before the bell rang to end the match.

The Rockets got off on the right foot with Malcolm Griffin canning a trey to open the scoring. The short-lived lead lasted until Bowling Green senior guard Joe Jakubowski hit one from beyond the arc to put the Falcons up 5-3 with about three minutes gone in the period. From that point, Toledo would be fighting to catch up to the Wood County school.

The starting front court of the Falcons consisted of a trio of strong and talented 6-7 players: sophomore A’uston Calhoun, junior Scott Thomas, and junior Torian Oglesby, who established their post presence early on, especially Calhoun and Thomas. A dunk by Oglesby, a trey from Thomas, and six points from Calhoun soon had Bowling Green ahead by 10 points, 16-6.

Toledo fought back with a 9-0 run, sparked by a pair of three-pointers from freshman Zack Leahy, that almost caught the Falcons at the 7:57 mark, but when freshman Reese Holliday missed the back end of a one-and-one, UT remained a point back of the Orange and Brown.

A Calhoun dunk followed by two triples and a pair of free throws from Jakubowski soon had the Bowling Green lead back up to seven points, 26-19, and the half ended with visitors ahead, 27-21.

Calhoun and Jakubowski each netted 11 points to lead the half-time scoring, and Calhoun, who had seven rebounds, was on his way to a double-double.

Bowling Green played an aggressive 2-3 zone for the entire half and their on-ball defense kept Toledo out of sync throughout the first 20 minutes. The Falcons also threw a full-court press at the Rockets, and their efforts, along with the half-court defense led to 11 UT turnovers before intermission.

The second half began with Bowling Green calling off the press, allowing Toledo to catch the Falcons at 32, thanks to Griffin and Holliday, who combined for 11 points. Bowling Green Coach Louis Orr then rolled out the full-court pressure once again and, once again, Toledo found itself trying to play catch up.

The home team never gave up, but as the final period progressed, Toledo was unable to get a defensive stop, or stops, when most needed, and just couldn't get over the hump. UT drew within two points, 47-45, at the 7:12 mark when Griffin hit a basket, but that would be the closest they would get as Bowling Green answered each Toledo basket with points of their own.

Griffin hit a trey at 3:20 to cut the margin to 58-54 but Toledo was forced to foul in an attempt to get the ball back, giving Bowling Green the opportunity to score from the free throw line, and the Falcons made the most of those opportunities in the final 90 seconds, converting on 9-of-10 charity shots. Final score: 70-64.

Calhoun led a quartet of Falcon scorers in double figures with 21 points. He also had a game-high 13 rebounds. Jakubowski, the Toledo St. Johns product and Rossford, OH native finished with 16 points; while Thomas and reserve guard Dee Brown each had 11 points.

Once again Malcolm Griffin stepped up big on offense for Toledo with a game-high 25 points. Griffin also recorded five assists on the evening. Holliday had 13 points and seven rebounds to help the Toledo cause.

Except for Holliday, who is a warrior around the glass, Toledo’s offensive post play was almost nonexistent. Freshman Delano Dear had six points in 28 minutes of action, and his freshman running mate, Hayden Humes, failed to take a shot while on the hardwood for 14 minutes. Dear did manage to corral eight rebounds to lead Toledo in that category.

After the game Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said, “The first half was very similar story to our season, we had 11 turnovers and a very difficult time scoring. We did however hold them to 31% shooting and did a pretty decent job on the glass.  In the second half we found an answer to attacking their zone by putting Malcolm [Griffin] in the high post. Our problem is we couldn't get the key defensive stops down the stretch. It was a hard-fought competitive game but they were a little more athletic and more talented.”

A crowd of 5,523 fans passed through the turnstiles to watch their favorite Northwest Ohio rivalry, but strangely, those in attendance just didn't seem that excited, or enflamed upon seeing the hated orange and brown uniforms running up and down Nichols Court. It was a very meek and mild throng; not one to lend itself to being Toledo’s “Sixth Man.”

In a bit of an anomaly the Falcons entered the contest with a losing 8-11 record but were tied with Buffalo for the East Division lead with three wins and two losses. The Bulls knocked off Western Michigan on Tuesday so the two teams remain deadlocked for first place in the East.