Bowling Green crafted an 11-1 run deep in the second half to wrestle control away from Western Michigan, then held on for dear life to escape with an 85-82 victory on Tuesday at University Arena.
The Falcons (12-5, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) led by as many as 10 during the second half and by nine with fewer than three minutes to play, but held off a late 7-0 charge by the Broncos (8-9, 1-3).
Western Michigan cut the Falcons’ lead to two with just more than a minute to go, though BG forward Marlon Sierra’s three-point play with 40 seconds remaining gave the Falcons enough cushion to hang on for their third consecutive MAC win.
Sierra had 12 points and was one of four Falcons in double figures, joining Daeqwon Plowden (19), Dylan Frye (16) and Justin Turner (12).
The Falcons survived a barrage from Broncos guard Michael Flowers, who scored 16 points after halftime and finished with 28 points.
Bowling Green began the game with a cold stretch — only Plowden scored during the first five minutes and the Falcons made just five of their first 18 field-goal attempts — but responded by making six of their next seven, including a pair of 3s from Trey Diggs and another from Matiss Kulackovskis, as part of a 13-4 run.
Bowling Green’s bench players outpaced the Broncos’ reserves 30-13 in the game.
The Falcons made 6 of 15 attempts from behind the 3-point line in the first half, after which they led 39-34.
The second half was marked by hot shooting and poor defense. BG made 12 of its first 15 shots to begin the half, while the Broncos were 9 of 12 during the same period.
After the Broncos rallied from down 10 to hold a one-point lead with 6:31 to play, the Falcons’ two leading scorers took over. Frye made a 3, then Turner scored eight points — two 3-pointers and a layup — as part of the 11-1 run that put BG ahead 82-73.
BG did not trail again, though WMU had two chances at a tying 3-pointer in the dying seconds, both of which missed.
Bowling Green will return home Saturday for a game against Northern Illinois.
First Published January 15, 2020, 2:30 a.m.
