vs. Eastern Michigan (1/17)

[mbenecke]

On Saturday, January 17, our Falcons (11-6, 2-3 MAC) will host Eastern Michigan (8-9, 2-3 MAC) at 1:00pm. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+. Hoping a week off gets us ready to go for this upcoming stretch of much more winnable games.

Go Falcons!

[fanatic13]

Eastern's second leading scorer, Carlos Hart, was suspended indefinitely today as he was part of the college basketball point shaving scandal. He averaged 13.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game so big loss for them

[guest44]

Two years in a row point shaving news comes down for Eastern in the days leading up to the Eastern Michigan game at BG. Most remarkable is that Nelson and Terry played all of last season given what was rumored around this time last year. When you read the indictment, Hart isn't playing college ball ever again. Also named in Isiah Adams who played at Buffalo in 23-24. He and another tanked a bunch of games for them, then transferred to Toledo for the 24-25 season.

[jpfalcon09]

Stupid people. Throwing away a potential future in professional basketball just to make some fast cash. Legalized sports betting was Pandora's box with collegiate and pro sports, sad but not surprising to see it having such a negative impact.

[guest44]

Like when did the coaches not become responsible for the actions of the players on the team and the program? How do the coaches of Eastern Michigan and Buffalo just get to go along like this didn't happen within the program? It's literally tanking games.

[Flipper]

I think smaller schools are going to be more likely to be preyed upon by gamblers...the NIL money isn't there for them and they know what players at larger programs are getting. Financial incentive is def there.

Kent State put out a notice on social media stating that their only involvement in the matter was as a 100% legit and honest opponent

[fanatic13]

Up 10 at half and it should be more. Offense led by Wol and Ruffin has been lights out. Defense needs to be better even though Eastern had a couple lucky bounces

Our offense is so much better when Wol is actively involved. Of course he can't shoot like this every game but having another guy who can create and heat up like this just adds another dimension

Forgot about Braelon Green and how he plays for Eastern

[fanatic13]

11-0 run for bg to start the half followed by an 11-0 for emu

[Hammer]

I know we have hit a shooting slump in this game but officiating in this league makes it hard to watch.

[Falconwriter]

Blowing a 19 point lead at home takes a special kind of ineptness. Just unbelievable.

[fanatic13]

You can see the change in intensity on defense the last three minutes. Frustrating we take long stretches off

[fanatic13]

Not a fun win after blowing a 21 point lead (wasn't 19 like the announcer wrongly said 5 times). We let two guys averaging 3 points a game get 22 each and let them shoot over 50% as a team despite missing their last 5 shots.

In the bigger picture all wins count the same. Let's be better on Tuesday

[Falconwriter]

Nobody is happier they pulled this out (than me) but...sheesh. This team has far too much talent overall to have something like this happen at home AND when the opposing team is without one of its leading scorers. They will have to be better if they want to win the next two games on the road.

[hammb]

Man I'm glad we won but I can't figure out why Simon cannot get this group to play focused for 40 mins. They're either spring the other team a big lead or they let them back in the game late.

Wol is so good offensively then we couldn't even get the gumball to him the final 15 mins. But these runs we give up are always fueled by lazy defense. This team makes its runs by not just getting stops but creating turnovers. But when they have their lulls they're not moving their feet but still overplaying and reaching for steals...results in these long stretches of fouls or easy buckets.

This group has talent but they're not making noise in March until they prove they can work for 40 mins

[Matty B]

It would not shock me if we learn that several players were battling an illness of some sort yesterday. Towns was NOTICIBLY pushing through something.. on timeouts and deadballs he looked like he was about to pass out. Simon also played Ruffin and Thomas in VERY short spurts, and even Campbell seemed just a tad bit slower than normal, especially in the first half.

But thankfully:

Javontae took over the game in the last 4 minutes. Hit a big 3, got a steal and a layup, found Glover on the pick and roll, and drove for what became the Game winning bucket, while also erasing Braylon Green the final few possessions. While it wasn't his best overall game, those final 4 minutes (and the fact that Eastern immediately went on an 11-0 run when he went to the bench with his 3rd foul) is why he's a lock for 1st team all MAC and is certainly in the conversation for POY.

Wol's shooting saved our ass in the first half. We didn't play particularly well but his explosion let us build that lead.

Glover played his best game as a falcon, and boy we needed it with Towns less than 100%. 10 points, 10 boards (5 offensive), 4 blocks and altered several more. If we can get this version of Glover night in and night out that will be a HUGE asset.

Shackleford also played one of his better games, if not his best to date. Again, we needed it with Ruffin and Thomas laboring a bit. 2 big rebounds on Easterns final 2 possessions, then Hit 4 MASSIVE free throws to ice the game. Plus his baseline dunk in the first half was nasty!!

Eastern is a quality team, don't let their record fool you. They have wins over Cincinnati, Oakland and UMass, and would have beaten Ohio U had Pavaletzke not tossed in a running 30-footer at the buzzer. They've got some dudes and Stan Heath hasn't forgotten how to coach. I expect to see them in Cleveland.

It wasn't pretty, but boy, how many times have we seen BG lose a game like that? Too many! So the fact we could at least will ourselves to an ugly win against a quality opponent, all things considered, gives me even more optimism about this team. Now gotta back this up and go get one in Kalamazoo and get some momentum going into Savage next weekend.