OXFORD, Ohio — For the past seven weeks, Bowling Green seemingly had an answer for everything.
But at Millett Hall on Saturday, Miami guard Nike Sibande, combined with a nasty day offensively, finally stopped the Falcons’ winning streak.
Bowling Green suffered a 67-53 defeat at Miami, snapping a 10-game run and giving the Falcons their first loss in the Mid-American Conference.
Sibande scored a game-high 25 points for Miami (11-9, 3-4 MAC). Bowling Green (14-6, 6-1) led 2-0 and never did again, as the Falcons finished with their fewest points in a game so far this season.
“It just boils down to them playing harder than us,” Falcons center Demajeo Wiggins said. “From the tip, they brought more energy, more effort. … It’s not that things didn’t go our way, we just didn’t play up to our potential tonight.”
The Falcons’ horrible start against the RedHawks left them chasing for the rest of the game. Bowling Green turned over the ball five times in the first five minutes of the game and struggled to establish much of anything on the offensive end of the floor.
BG made just 4 of its first 18 field-goal attempts and trailed Miami by as many as 13 points with more than four minutes to play in the first half.
With halftime drawing near, BG created a desperately needed run. Daeqwon Plowden banked in a 3-pointer, Dylan Fyre converted a reverse layup, Justin Turner scored in transition, and Mike Laster made a free throw for an 8-0 run that sent the Falcons into halftime down a manageable 24-19.
Bowling Green cut Miami’s lead to a single point twice in the first six minutes of the second half, but never managed to regain the lead.
The Falcons were outrebounded as a team for just the second time this season. Bowling Green also turned over the ball 15 times, its worst output since Dec. 1, and shot 19-for-52 (36.5 percent) from the floor.
Falcons coach Michael Huger said he agreed with Wiggins that Miami simply out-worked his team, and the team received a reminder about the fickle nature of MAC basketball.
“I say it all the time: Anybody can beat anybody in this league at any given time. You’ve got to come to play every single game,” Huger said. “Every single time you step on the court, you’ve got to come to play. It’s not a given that you’re going to beat any team, whether they’re in first place or last place.”
The Redhawks completed a 9-0 run that re-established a double-digit lead, and the Falcons trailed by at least seven points for the rest of the game.
Sibande scored 20 of Miami’s 43 second-half points and added seven rebounds. Former Bowsher standout Dalonte Brown had six points.
Turner led BG with 12 points, while Antwon Lillard added 10 points off the bench and Wiggins grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds.
Bowling Green has Tuesday off before returning to the Stroh Center for an 8 p.m. game Friday against defending MAC champion Buffalo. The Bulls are 18-2 and ranked No. 14 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll
For as much as Bowling Green wanted to preserve its winning streak, Huger said a loss sometimes can be necessary during the grind of a full season.
“The thing is, you would love to go undefeated, 18-0 and that’s that, we’re the champs,” Huger said. “It takes some time, and sometimes you need that one loss to kind of get you back focused. Hopefully we can get our focus back and be ready to go against Buffalo.”
First Published January 26, 2019, 10:48 p.m.
