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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
0-1
Bowling Green
1-0
Rebels Edged By Bowling Green In OT Thriller
11/16/2001 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2001
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Courtesy of University of Alaska-Fairbanks
Led by senior guard Keith McLeod, Bowling Green's Falcons held off a late charge from Ole Miss to claim an 82-78 win a first-round game in the "Top of the World Classic" tournament at Fairbanks, Alaska, Thursday (Nov. 16).
McLeod, who last year went to the free throw line 214 times, hitting 174, keyed the Falcons win by collecting 33 points largely as a result of hitting 20 of 27 free throws.
Bowling Green led throughout the second half of the game after having taken control at 30-27 with 2:40 remaining in the first half. The Falcons moved ahead by as many as 11 at 51-40 with 12:49 remaining in the second half before the Rebels launched their comeback.
Ahead by six points, 69-63, the Falcons faltered, largely as a result of McLeod uncharacteristically missing three of four opportunities at the line in the final 2:00 minutes of the game.
The Canton, Ohio, native had the answer, however, as he was Bowling Green's primary offensive threat in the overtime period when he scored eight of the Falcon's 10 points as they claimed the four-point victory.
Ole Miss had overcome an unbelievably poor shooting in the first half when the Rebels hit on only 9-of-23 field goal attempts for a .391 percentage. The Falcons, meanwhile, had hit 10-of-16 for .625.
Justin Reed was Ole Miss' leading scorer with 26 points.
Bowling Green now meets Washington at 12 noon Saturday while Ole Miss will go against Alaska Fairbanks at 6 p.m.
