Bucs narrowly avoid first round upsetSouthern Sports & Travel, By Darron Thomas
In what proved to be the game of the day fourth ranked Bowling Green needed all four quarters to secure a spot in the semi-finals on Friday. The Buccaneers escaped with a narrow 71-65 win over ninth ranked River Oaks and will take on the winner of the Centreville/Prairie View matchup taking place today.
It didn’t take long for River Oaks to get Bowling Green’s attention after the Mustangs jumped out to a 6-2 lead halfway through the first quarter. Bowling Green answered with 13 straight points as four different Buccaneer players provided baskets for a 15-6 lead. River Oaks broke a long dry spell when Martez Sellars drained a 3-pointer from the wing with 3 seconds left to cut the deficit to 15-9 after one quarter.
Bowling Green took their biggest lead at 24-15 on a Russell Perry 15 footer at the 3:31 mark of the second quarter but River Oaks started capitalizing on their transition game. The Mustangs closed the gap to 26-21 on a Sellars fast break lay-in and a Tony Gilly 3-pointer from the corner with 40 seconds left in the half pulled River Oaks to within four points at 31-27. Colton Owens ended the half with a tip in to give Bowling Green a 33-27 lead at intermission.
It didn’t take long for River Oaks to get Bowling Green’s attention after the Mustangs jumped out to a 6-2 lead halfway through the first quarter. Bowling Green answered with 13 straight points as four different Buccaneer players provided baskets for a 15-6 lead. River Oaks broke a long dry spell when Martez Sellars drained a 3-pointer from the wing with 3 seconds left to cut the deficit to 15-9 after one quarter.
Bowling Green took their biggest lead at 24-15 on a Russell Perry 15 footer at the 3:31 mark of the second quarter but River Oaks started capitalizing on their transition game. The Mustangs closed the gap to 26-21 on a Sellars fast break lay-in and a Tony Gilly 3-pointer from the corner with 40 seconds left in the half pulled River Oaks to within four points at 31-27. Colton Owens ended the half with a tip in to give Bowling Green a 33-27 lead at intermission.
(Above) Ryan MacGregor (#4) of River Oaks gets past Bowling Green's Russell Perry (#25) for a first half basketFollowing a Bowling Green turnover to start the third quarter River Oaks cut the deficit in half at 33-30 on a Tony Gilly 3-pointer from the corner. Bowling Green responded with five straight points to extend the lead to 38-30 but River Oaks wouldn’t go away. A Martez Sellars drive and lay-in at the 4:00 mark made it 40-39 but the Buccaneers again answered with five straight points that included a Mac McEleveen 3-pointer and Kevin Perry’s jump hook at the 3:30 mark. River Oaks got a basket from Vincent Moore to tie the game at 47-47 and on their next possession Moore connected on one of two free throws to give the Mustangs a 48-47 lead with 1:45 left in a high scoring third quarter. Bowling Green regained the lead on Dylan Varnado’s 3-pointer from the wing and a Dean King offensive rebound and put back sent Bowling Green into the final quarter with a slim 52-49 lead.
Bowling Green got some breathing room to open the fourth quarter on a Russell Perry offensive rebound and lay-in, a Jaron Edwards jumper and a Kevin Perry jump hook that put the Buccaneers up 58-49 with 5:24 left. River Oaks twice cut the deficit to three points in the final two minutes, the last on a Martez Sellars 15 footer with 1:30 remaining to make it 64-61. Bowling Green finished out the final 30 seconds by connecting on 5/6 free throws to seal up a hard fought 71-65 win.
(Above) Jaron Edwards (#10) of Bowling Green with a late 4th quarter lay-inJaron Edwards led Bowling Green with 22 points, Russell Perry added 15, Kevin Perry 14, Colton Owens 10, Dean King 4, and Dylan Varnado and Mac McElveen 3 each.
Martez Sellars had a game high 28 points to lead River Oaks, Tony Gilly added 14, Vincent Moore 11, Darryl Barnes 8 and Ryan MacGregor 4.
Bowling Green improved to 24-8 while River Oaks finishes their season at 17-5.
BG...15...18...19...19...71
RO....9....18...22...16...65
(Photo at top) Colton Owens (#2) of Bowling Green defending a driving Vincent Moore of River Oaks
