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In a very entertaining college basketball game that had tournament–like intensity, the Bowling Green Falcons beat the host Kent State Golden Flashes in overtime, 84-83 on Tuesday night.
It appeared the Falcons were on the verge of doing a great Atlanta Falcons impersonation, before pulling out the victory in the extra five minutes. Bowling Green controlled most of the first half leading by as many as 13 points. However, a late Kent State run made it 34-31 Falcons at the half.
The Falcons again had the lead throughout most of the second half, even though Kent State did take the lead briefly a couple of times. Bowling Green was up 75-73 with 1:27 to play in regulation, but the Golden Flashes’ Kevin Zabo hit a jumper to tie it with 25 seconds left. Kent State blocked two Bowling Green shots in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.
Again, the Falcons had the lead early in overtime, and then back-to-back driving buckets by Kent State’s Desmond Ridenhour gave the Flashes an 83-79 lead with just 14 seconds left. Then, Falcons’ freshman Rodrick Caldwell immediately came down and hit a clutch three-pointer to make the score 83-82, Kent State with just 6 seconds left.
The Golden Flashes would then throw the ball away trying to inbound the basketball. Bowling Green’s Demajeo Wiggins got a put back bucket on a Caldwell miss to give the Falcons the lead 84-83, with just 1.3 left.
Kent State’s ensuing pass to half court went off a Falcon and the Flashes had another possession with .6 seconds left at mid-court. Jaylin Walker tried to get a shot off but one of the referees said his attempt came after the buzzer had sounded.
For some reason, a Bowling Green player went up and swatted the ball out of the basket on the final shot. Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff was screaming for a goal tending call, and Falcons head coach Michael Huger was claiming time had expired. The referees went to the TV monitor to review the play and determined that time indeed had expired before the shot was taken. Bowling Green had the hard fought 84-83 win.
Matt Fox led Bowling Green in scoring with 18 points, on 5 of 7 three-point shooting. Wiggins and Caldwell added 16 each for the Falcons. Walker led the Golden Flashes in scoring with 18 points, while Zabo added 17 and Jimmy Hall, Deon Edwin and Ridenhour all had 12 points apiece.
The Falcons have now won three straight and improve to 5-6 in Mid-American Conference play and 11-13 overall. Kent state drops to 5-6 in the MAC and 13-11 overall. Bowling Green returns home on Saturday to face Buffalo, while Kent State travels to Toledo to face the Rockets the same day.