BOWLING GREEN, OHIO -- Canisius sophomores Greg Logins and Julius Coles combined to score all nine of the Golden Griffins' points in overtime as the Blue and Gold defeated Bowling Green 71-66 in an ESPNU BracketBuster series game Saturday afternoon in Anderson Arena. The win was Canisius' second straight and improved the team to 9-18 on the season, while the Falcons fell to 15-11 with the loss.
Logins was good for a team-high 19 points in the win, while junior guard Frank Turner added 16 points. Coles was credited with his first career double-double after he scored 14 points and pulled down a career best 10 rebounds. Tomas Vazquez-Simmons had nine points, seven boards and two blocked shots in the win, with Robert Goldsberry dishing out six assists to go with four steals.
The overtime period went scoreless for the first 2:47 before Bowling Green forward Nate Miller slashed through the lane and laid one in the hoop to put the host Falcons up 64-62. Coles gave the Griffs the lead right back after he hit a 3-pointer from the left wing on the team's next trip down the floor, but Bowling Green answered with points of their own on a jumper by Miller to make the score 66-65. Canisius took the lead for good with 1:14 left in the extra session when Logins worked his way to the basket and flipped off the glass to put the Blue and Gold up 67-66 with 1:14 left.
The Griffs sealed the win by hit four-straight free throws with 28 seconds left on the clock in overtime. Canisius ended the day shooting 40 percent from the floor while holding a 47-36 advantage on the glass.
In regulation, Canisius tied the game at 56-56 with 3:05 left on the clock after Vazquez-Simmons grabbed a rebound and laid it off the glass for two points. The Griffs would stretch their hold to as many as five in the game's final minutes, but a 3-point field goal by Joe Jakubowski with 19 seconds left pulled the Falcons within two at 61-59. Canisius hit one of two tosses from the charity stripe moments later, while allowed Miller to send the game into overtime with a 3-pointer basket with seven seconds left on the clock.
“I think the guys were a bit staggered in the huddle before overtime, but they buckled down and got some stops,” Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. “We stepped up and made plays at both ends of the floor and we were able to put the game away at the foul line with four makes in a row, which we didn't do in regulation.”
Miller scored a game-high 22 points for Bowling Green, with 13 of those points coming in the game's final 25 minutes. The Falcons shot 39.7 percent from the field while the Griffs ended the contest with a 17-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Canisius will return home Friday, Feb. 27, when the team plays host to Marist. Tipoff in the Koessler Athletic Center is set for 7:30 p.m.
Game Notes: Canisius is now 3-1 in BracketBuster games... The win over Bowling Green moved the all-time series between the two schools to 8-5 in favor of the Falcons... The Griffs are 47-32 all-time against schools from the Mid-American Conference... The win in overtime was the Griffs' first since Jan. 8, 2007, when the team beat Iona 72-65... Coles' double-double is the 11th double-double by a Canisius player this season.
