Justin Orr's partially blocked shot came up short as time expired, and 10,988 fans fell silent.
Ohio, seemingly unbeatable at home the last four seasons, had just lost 52-51 to a Bowling Green team that was 0-7 on the road coming in to the game.
If you told me that we were going to hold them to 35 percent from the field
32 (percent) from 3 shoot 25 free throws to their eight and only turn the ball over 11 times I probably would have smiled
coach John Groce said.
The only ones smiling in the largest crowd of the season, however, were the Falcons. Once Orr's shot fell short, Falcons players celebrated their victory at midcourt as fans somberly exited.
The energy level of our team collectively maybe wasn't our sharpest
said Groce, whose team suffered its first home-court loss of the season. We needed everybody tonight.
For much of the game, Ohio had nobody playing as usual offensively. As a team, the Bobcats shot 26.5 percent from the field, which contributed to a season-low 13 field goals.
A couple of guys that normally give us more bang for their buck in terms of their production didn't quite deliver as they did earlier
Groce said.
Orr was one of those players. He shot 1-of-11 from the field. Tommy Freeman wasn't much better, shooting just 3-of-10 from the field.
Even forward Jerome Tillman, who had a team-high 20 points, shot poorly. He finished 3-of-15 shooting.
But despite all of Ohio's offensive problems, the Bobcats still had a chance to win.
After Bowling Green guard Darryl Clements made a runner with 46 seconds remaining to give his Falcons a one-point lead, forward DeVaughn Washington had an opportunity to retake the lead at the free-throw line.
Similar to the way the game had gone for the Bobcats, Washington missed both attempts. Bowling Green then had a chance to seal the victory on a breakaway layup from Chris Knight. But Tillman chased him down and swatted away the attempt.
After a timeout, Ohio lobbed the ball in to Tillman on the inbounds play. Tillman had a good look, but Knight blocked Tillman's shot with 1.7 seconds remaining.
After another timeout, a lob pass to Tillman was deflected out to Orr, whose shot came up short.
Any time you lose it's tough to swallow
guard Michael Allen said. Especially on your home court when you need to protect your home court throughout MAC play.
The Bobcats were unable to protect their 7-0 record at home. Bowling Green had last won in Athens on Jan. 28, 2003.
But the Falcons played as if they were on their home court late in the game. After starting just 1-12 from behind the arc, they hit 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to build a six-point lead with 7:15 remaining.
We have to tighten our 3-point percentage defense
Tillman said.
That defense helped the Bobcats recover from that six-point deficit, but their offense couldn't hold off the Falcons' upset bid.
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