March 15, 2013 – MAC Semifinals
Ohio (17-13, 9-7 MAC) vs Bowling Green (15-14, 10-6 MAC)
We beat Bowling Green earlier in the year by 18 at our place. Close for a half but we ran away with it in the 2
nd half. They have some extremely talented players, but they only have 7 guys with ratings over 60. If they have to go past that into their bench, we will gain some big advantages. Since they lost to us last, Bowling Green has won 10 of their last 11 games, losing only to Toledo. They beat Kent State at home on the last day of the regular season to keep out of the 9-7 mess Ohio is in.
In the first game Akins was their only legit scorer with 18 points. Moye got in on the act a little but that was it. We held them to 58 and had an outstanding defensive effort.
They're rated very similar to us: 79 OVR (80 off/79 def/81 sht/83 reb). We have a small rebounding edge based on roster ratings.
Scouting
PG Donald Fordham – SR 70 OVR – Great speed and quickness (93/85), best defender they have (86), only an average shooter (65 med/71 3). He isn't much off the dribble or in traffic so hopefully we don't have to worry about him scoring much. 6.2 ppg/2.8 apg so far this year.
SG Clinton Moye – SO – 75 OVR – Moye is actually listed as a SF. Average defense (77), average to above average shooter (86 close/76 med/72 3), good off the dribble and outstanding in traffic (77/88). Moye is a great athlete and a great dunker. 9.0 ppg this season.
SF Anil Akins – SR – 82 OVR – Akins is a 6'7” senior. An outstanding rebounder(85 o/82 d) and a very good scorer(86 close/84 med/72 3). Great steals guy (81), good defender(81), great in traffic (87)... 15.7 ppg and 8.8 rpg both lead the team by a good bit.
PF Clif Ahvenniemi – SR – 74 OVR – 6'8”, good rebounder (81 off/83 def), great post defense(84) but not so much on the offensive side (66). 86 close range/74 med. Averaging 10.5 ppg
C Jessan Dilligard – JR – 72 OVR – 6'10”, an average rebounder (78 o/80 d), a great post player (89 offense! 78 defense). 85 close/88 in traffic, guy looks like a serious scoring threat down low, averaging 8.5 ppg.
Half
| Time
| OHIO
| BGSU
| Notes
|
1
| 13:00
| 12
| 18
| Bowling Green starts on a 7-2 run. We charge back and take an 11-7 lead. They score 11 straight to go up 18-11. We make a free throw and get our backups in... game of runs. Akins has 7 for them, Sessoms has 7 for us. Massey has the other 5, only two scorers for Ohio so far.
|
1
| 10:15
| 19
| 20
| Sessoms was still in the game as he missed a free throw when our badkups came in. I debated calling a timeout but he was hot so I kept him in. He scored 4 more and now has 11 points. Lamkin hit a 3 as well, and after an Akins foul Dahi is in for Sessoms.
|
1
| 8:00
| 23
| 27
| I don't think we're going to be holding them to 58 this time. Lamkin has 7, 2-2 from 3. Their big man, dilligard has 9 and is their leading scorer along with Akins.
|
1
| 6:30
| 29
| 28
| Lamkin with a nice acrobatic shot in the lane to give us a 1 point lead. Timeout Bowling Green.
|
1
| 5:15
| 34
| 32
| Danelius with a 3 point play inside to give us the 2 point edge as our starters come back in. Starters, minus Sessoms. His stamina got down into the 60s from playing the first full 10 minutes and he is gassed. Dahi is still in. Lamkin was a stud for the backups this stretch, scoring 11.
|
1
| 4:25
| 35
| 33
| We draw foul #2 on their center, Dilligard.
|
1
| 3:35
| 41
| 35
| Delic with 2 3 point plays in a row! I get Sessoms back in and with their lack of depth I plan on pounding it inside the rest of the half with Dilligard not in the game.
|
| HALF
| 45
| 45
| So much for pounding it inside. We turn it over on our next two possessions in a row and lose our small lead. Both teams are shooting very well. They are 19-28 and 5-9 at the line. We are 16-29 and 10-14 at the line.
Fordham leads them with 11, then Dilligard has 10. Moye 8, Akins 7. Their backups have the rest, which isn't a lot.
We have 3 guys with 11 points. Sessoms, Delic, and Lamkin all have 11 each. Massey is next with 5. Cooper is 0-3 from 3 and that is all he has done. He has 0 points. I never thought Cooper could go scoreless in a half against a team this good and we still have a chance to win.
|
2
| 17:45
| 47
| 45
| Both teams come out cold in the second half. Sessoms has especially cooled off, I haven't tried getting Delic going yet. Cooper just scored his first bucket of the game, and the first points for either team this half.
|
2
| 13:50
| 47
| 53
| I bring the backups in a little earlier than I normally would. We all of a sudden cannot score from anywhere on the court. They're playing a 2-3 zone more often than usual so far this half, Cooper and Massey remain cold, Sessoms and Delic cannot get good looks, and they've slowly worked their way out to a 6 point lead.
|
2
| 12:45
| 48
| 55
| Lamkin draws foul #3 on Fordham, and he and Akins sit. Akins has 2 fouls but is tired I'm sure, having gone on a tear for 6 or 8 of these points from Bowling Green so far. Hopefully with the two of them out I can get back in it.
|
2
| 11:15
| 50
| 57
| Danelius hits a little hook inside and we've hit just our 2nd field goal of the half so far.
|
2
| 10:45
| 54
| 57
| Four straight from Lamkin get us right back in the game. Bowling Green with a timeout after a nice dunk in traffic from Lamkin for the last 2. They bring Akins back into the game.
|
2
| 9:30
| 57
| 57
| Lamkin misses a 3 to tie, but Dahi gets the board and the putback. Then we force a turnover in our press, and Flowers draws a foul attacking the basket. He only makes 1 of 2, good enough for a tie. Another timeout Bowling Green. They only have 1 left.
|
2
| 8:05
| 57
| 62
| A quick 5 for Bowling Green and I call a timeout. I've still got 5 left, so I might as well burn them when the crowd gets them going.
|
2
| 7:10
| 57
| 65
| Another 3 by Bowling Green and I call another timeout, this one to get my starters back in. They've got their entire starting 5 back out on the court and our backups are way overmatched.
|
2
| 3:50
| 66
| 72
| Cooper scores 7 of our last 9, with 2 in there from Lufkin, and we've cut into the lead a little, but we've allowed them 4 second chance buckets in this stretch or we could be right there. Its our ball, under 4 to go now.
|
2
| 2:00
| 69
| 77
| Two minutes left and they've pushed the lead back out entirely thanks to Akins.
|
2
| 0:50
| 71
| 77
| Wow, I'm stunned. We get a bucket from Sessoms though I'm frustrated that it takes the entire shot clock to find a good look. We force a stop, and hit Lufkin in transition, he gets up over his man but the fingerroll rolls off the rim... down 6 I don't want them to get the clock down under 30 seconds, so its time to foul.
|
2
| 0:35
| 72
| 77
| We dont foul after all, I wanted to foul one of their big men, they are awful FT shooters. Instead moye drove to the basket and missed a shot. We get Lufkin down low, he draws a foul. Misses the first, makes the second. Still down 5.
|
They make 2 Fts, we miss a quick 3, they board and that's the ball game.
Bowling Green 81
Ohio 72
Their best players really came through big for them in the 2
nd half. Akins with 19, Moye 18, Fordham 15, Dilligard 14. I slowed them down at times but could never quite stop them in the 2
nd half long enough to get back in the lead.
Massey: 5 points
Cooper: 11 points
Lufkin: 4 points
Delic: 11 points/5 boards
Sessoms: 13 points/10 boards
Lamkin: 16 points
Massey gives us one last total crap shooting game, 2-7 today. I don't know if I lost the feel for his shooting stroke or what, he just went completely from reliable scorer to... poor shooter overnight it seemed.