Bowling Green Defeats Miami After Late 11-0 Run
By: Jack Mueller
The Miami RedHawks lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Bowling Green Falcons on Tuesday night, coming up just short in a 78-73 loss. The RedHawks offense went ice cold down the stretch, allowing Bowling Green to rattle off a 11-0 run over the final four minutes.
Miami’s Head Coach, Travis Steele, did not mince his words following the loss, as he felt his team was hard done by in the second half.
“I’m tired of the officiating… my big guy gets a horrendous whistle every game” said Steele, emphasizing that the Falcons shot more than double the amount of free throws that Miami did. Bowling Green’s ability to get to the line, along with their defensive pressure down the stretch, ended up being crucial.
“We had two critical turnovers at the end of the game that allowed Bowling Green back into it, so ultimately it’s on us.” added Steele.
Bowling Green started the game on the front foot, opening up an early double-digit lead behind a balanced offensive attack. Both Rashawn Agee and Jason Spurgin were able to get to the rim for easy looks, and the Falcons seemingly couldn’t miss from three point range. Led by the team’s top scorer, Marcus Hill, the Falcons shot 85% from behind the arc to start the game.
The RedHawks defense grew into the game though, and the second portion of the first half was a completely different story. The Falcons could not find any sort of rhythm on offense, ending the half on a 1-12 cold streak from the field. Miami’s interior defense stepped up immensely, with both Jaquel Morris and Reece Potter blocking shots in the lane to stop Bowling Green’s momentum.
“It was really fun playing against Agee and Spurgin, they’re great bigs so it’s fun competing against those guys.” said Potter.
Potter then hit back to back three pointers that brought Miami within one basket with under four minutes to go in the half. The RedHawks defense would continue to hold firm, and a couple of missed Falcon free throws set up a buzzer beating mid-range shot by Darweshi Hunter to give Miami their first lead of the night going into the half.
Potter put together his strongest performance to date in a RedHawk jersey. The 7’1” center had shown flashes of his game all season, but put it all together against the Eagles. Potter had 17 points, including two threes and a couple of smooth spot-up mid rangers. He was also a force defensively, collecting five boards and a block.
“We have some great passers and some great scorers, so it frees me up a lot when we’re shooting the three well” said Potter, “My teammates were able to hit me in some great spots.”
Before going cold down the stretch, the RedHawks looked solid on offense, building an eight point lead with six minutes remaining after Hunter took over. The veteran wing was vital in the second half, racking up ten points and eight boards. Ryan Mabrey and Anderson Mirambeaux both registered double digits as well (12 and 13 respectively), acting as an inside-outside tandem that gave the Falcons fits. Hunter, Mabrey and Mirambeaux are the lone RedHawks with prior experience in the MAC, which coach Steele said will be “huge” as the season progresses.
“You can’t make up for experience.” said Steele “We’ll show film of this game and there will be a lot of teachable moments, but we will continue to grow as a team and get better.”
Miami falls to 2-3 in the conference with the loss, and will face Ball State in Muncie, IN, on Saturday. Bowling Green improves to 5-1 in the MAC, third in the conference, and will face Western Michigan at the weekend.