Fort Myers, Fla. – Two scoring droughts of over four minutes as well as poor free throw shooting doomed the Falcons in a 77-59 neutral site loss to the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in game one of the 2015 Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic on Saturday evening at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.
The Falcons connected on just 8-of-20 (40 percent) attempts from the free throw line for the game, while North Dakota was 21-of-26 (80.8 percent) overall from the charity stripe, a difference of 13 points at the foul line for the contest.
The Falcons connected on just 8-of-20 (40 percent) attempts from the free throw line for the game, while North Dakota was 21-of-26 (80.8 percent) overall from the charity stripe, a difference of 13 points at the foul line for the contest.
North Dakota was also 10-of-21 (41.1 percent) from long distance, hitting five three-pointers as a team in each half of play, while the Falcons were just 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from long range.
BGSU outscored the Fighting Hawks 32-20 in points in the paint and 14-6 in fast break points, however, UND held a 15-13 edge in points off turnovers, as the Falcons coughed up the ball 16 times in the game. North Dakota's bench also outscored the Falcons 28-15 on the night.
Senior forward Spencer Parker led the Falcons with 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his second career double-double. Guard Zack Denny chipped in with 12 points, despite shooting just 5-of-14 overall for the game, while off the bench Antwon Lillard added 10 points and four rebounds.
UND was led by the duo of Quinton Hooker, who had a game-high 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Adam McDermott, who was 5-of-6 from behind the three-point line for 17 points in 28 minutes of play.
The Falcons' David Joseph, who had eight points on the night despite playing on 17 minutes due to foul trouble, put BGSU in front by one at 3-2 with a three-ball from the top of the key a minute into the contest.
After North Dakota responded with a three 30 seconds later to retake the lead at 5-3, the Falcons got a layup down low from Parker and a left handed driving layup from Joseph to push the Falcons in brown back in front by two at 7-5 with 16:54 to go in the opening half.
Six straight points from the Fighting Hawks gave the team in white the lead back at 11-7, when Parker again answered with a layup in the paint to end the UND run and put the score at 11-9 in favor of the North Dakota at the 15:22 mark in the first half.
However, the Parker layup would be the Falcons' last basket for over five minutes, as UND got hot from long range and took advantage of early BGSU foul trouble to fly out to a 27-10 lead at the 10 minute mark with BGSU's lone point coming off a free throw from redshirt-freshman Rasheed Worrell.
Parker ended the drought with a driving layup down the right side of the lane with 9:50 to play in the first period and then hit a free throw just over 30 seconds later to try to will the Falcons back into the contest.
Following a three-pointer from UND's McDermott, which pushed the home team's lead back to 17 at 30-13, the Falcons began to use their defense to generate their offense, as a block by Parker led to a Lillard layup and an 11-0 surge by the Orange and Brown who closed the gap to within six with just over five minutes to go in the first half at 30-24 on five straight points from Denny.
UND was able to fend off the Falcons' run and pull back out in front by 11 at 37-26 when BGSU picked up layups from Lillard and JD Tisdale, as well as two straight free throws and a 15-foot jumper from Wes Alcegaire to get to within three of the Fighting Hawks at 37-34 with 1:20 to play before the halftime break.
The Fighting Hawks scored the final four points of the opening half to take a seven-point lead at 41-34 into the halftime intermission.
BGSU quickly cut into the seven-point deficit with back-to-back three-pointers from Alcegaire and Joseph and then saw a fast break layup by Lillard tie the game up at 42-42 less than two minutes into the second half.
UND would then get to the free throw line for the two of 16 total attempts in the second half on the ensuing possession to retake the lead at 44-42, before another McDermott trey pushed the lead out to five at 47-42 for the Fighting Hawks with 17:23 to go in the contest.
Back-to-back buckets from veterans Parker and Denny put the Falcons within one at 47-46 at the 16:48 mark, yet BGSU couldn't grab the lead away from North Dakota and went ice cold from the floor over the next three minutes to fall behind by eight at 54-46 on a layup in the paint from UND's Geno Crandall at the 13:16 mark.
Following a layup from Ismail Ali, a free throw from Lillard and a steal and slam from Lillard, the Falcons battled back to within three at 54-51, only to see the Fighting Hawks use the free throw line and another three-pointer from long distance to pull back in front by eight at 59-51 with 10:29 to play in regulation.
Another Parker basket, this time a jump hook down low off the left post, put BGSU down just six at 59-53, but that would be as close as the Falcons would get for the remainder of the game, as UND used five quick points from Hooker and a three-pointer from McDermott to outscore the Falcons 8-3 over the next three minutes to take a double digit lead at 67-56 with 7:15 on the game clock.
Bowling Green began to press offensively and scored just three points over the final 6:40 of the contest, all three points from Parker, as UND went 6-of-6 from the free throw line over the final 3:31 of the game to close out the contest for the 77-59 win.
The Falcons (1-2) will return to action Sunday afternoon, as Coach Michael Huger's squad will take on Youngstown State at 4 p.m. ET from Alico Arena on day two of the 2015 Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic.
(Courtesy of BGSU Athletics)
BGSU outscored the Fighting Hawks 32-20 in points in the paint and 14-6 in fast break points, however, UND held a 15-13 edge in points off turnovers, as the Falcons coughed up the ball 16 times in the game. North Dakota's bench also outscored the Falcons 28-15 on the night.
Senior forward Spencer Parker led the Falcons with 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his second career double-double. Guard Zack Denny chipped in with 12 points, despite shooting just 5-of-14 overall for the game, while off the bench Antwon Lillard added 10 points and four rebounds.
UND was led by the duo of Quinton Hooker, who had a game-high 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Adam McDermott, who was 5-of-6 from behind the three-point line for 17 points in 28 minutes of play.
The Falcons' David Joseph, who had eight points on the night despite playing on 17 minutes due to foul trouble, put BGSU in front by one at 3-2 with a three-ball from the top of the key a minute into the contest.
After North Dakota responded with a three 30 seconds later to retake the lead at 5-3, the Falcons got a layup down low from Parker and a left handed driving layup from Joseph to push the Falcons in brown back in front by two at 7-5 with 16:54 to go in the opening half.
Six straight points from the Fighting Hawks gave the team in white the lead back at 11-7, when Parker again answered with a layup in the paint to end the UND run and put the score at 11-9 in favor of the North Dakota at the 15:22 mark in the first half.
However, the Parker layup would be the Falcons' last basket for over five minutes, as UND got hot from long range and took advantage of early BGSU foul trouble to fly out to a 27-10 lead at the 10 minute mark with BGSU's lone point coming off a free throw from redshirt-freshman Rasheed Worrell.
Parker ended the drought with a driving layup down the right side of the lane with 9:50 to play in the first period and then hit a free throw just over 30 seconds later to try to will the Falcons back into the contest.
Following a three-pointer from UND's McDermott, which pushed the home team's lead back to 17 at 30-13, the Falcons began to use their defense to generate their offense, as a block by Parker led to a Lillard layup and an 11-0 surge by the Orange and Brown who closed the gap to within six with just over five minutes to go in the first half at 30-24 on five straight points from Denny.
UND was able to fend off the Falcons' run and pull back out in front by 11 at 37-26 when BGSU picked up layups from Lillard and JD Tisdale, as well as two straight free throws and a 15-foot jumper from Wes Alcegaire to get to within three of the Fighting Hawks at 37-34 with 1:20 to play before the halftime break.
The Fighting Hawks scored the final four points of the opening half to take a seven-point lead at 41-34 into the halftime intermission.
BGSU quickly cut into the seven-point deficit with back-to-back three-pointers from Alcegaire and Joseph and then saw a fast break layup by Lillard tie the game up at 42-42 less than two minutes into the second half.
UND would then get to the free throw line for the two of 16 total attempts in the second half on the ensuing possession to retake the lead at 44-42, before another McDermott trey pushed the lead out to five at 47-42 for the Fighting Hawks with 17:23 to go in the contest.
Back-to-back buckets from veterans Parker and Denny put the Falcons within one at 47-46 at the 16:48 mark, yet BGSU couldn't grab the lead away from North Dakota and went ice cold from the floor over the next three minutes to fall behind by eight at 54-46 on a layup in the paint from UND's Geno Crandall at the 13:16 mark.
Following a layup from Ismail Ali, a free throw from Lillard and a steal and slam from Lillard, the Falcons battled back to within three at 54-51, only to see the Fighting Hawks use the free throw line and another three-pointer from long distance to pull back in front by eight at 59-51 with 10:29 to play in regulation.
Another Parker basket, this time a jump hook down low off the left post, put BGSU down just six at 59-53, but that would be as close as the Falcons would get for the remainder of the game, as UND used five quick points from Hooker and a three-pointer from McDermott to outscore the Falcons 8-3 over the next three minutes to take a double digit lead at 67-56 with 7:15 on the game clock.
Bowling Green began to press offensively and scored just three points over the final 6:40 of the contest, all three points from Parker, as UND went 6-of-6 from the free throw line over the final 3:31 of the game to close out the contest for the 77-59 win.
The Falcons (1-2) will return to action Sunday afternoon, as Coach Michael Huger's squad will take on Youngstown State at 4 p.m. ET from Alico Arena on day two of the 2015 Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic.
(Courtesy of BGSU Athletics)
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