Article from http://www.bgsufalcons.com/ .....
Kalamazoo, Mich. – The Bowling Green men’s basketball team shot 59 percent from the field but the Falcons came up one shot short of an upset in the opening round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Sunday. No. 7 seed Western Michigan held off No. 10 BGSU 75-73 to advance to the quarterfinals of the league tournament. Following an 82-60 loss to Ohio to close the regular season, Bowling Green Head Coach Louis Orr shook up a starting lineup that had been the same for 19 consecutive games. Freshman Luke Kraus got his first career start following a 16-point performance in that loss to Ohio and senior Marc Larson moved back into the lineup for the first time since a Dec. 28 game at Temple. Orr’s change sparked the team offensively as the Falcons shot 68 percent in the first 20 minutes, making 17-of-25 shots and 2-of-3 three-pointers. Despite the torrid shooting, Bowling Green led by just one at the break, 39-38. Western Michigan hung close with offensive rebounds and strong three-point shooting, making 6-of-13 in the first half.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to gain a stranglehold on the lead. Bowling Green took its final lead of the game on an Otis Polk tip-in with 7:36 to go but David Kool, the MAC’s leading scorer, answered with a three-pointer and Flenard Whitfield followed with a lay-up to give the Broncos a 66-62 lead. Jordon Crawford came back with a three-pointer to make it close again but Kool hit another long range bomb to push the lead back to four. Otis Polk scored with 2:58 to play and Western Michigan left an opening after missing the front end of a one-and-one. But Donald Lawson tipped in the miss to make it 71-67 Western Michigan. The Falcons again got an opportunity after Luke Kraus was fouled on a three-pointer and made two free-throws to make it 73-70. Kool, one of the best free-throw shooters in the league, missed a free-throw and Bowling Green had a chance to tie the game but Kraus’ long three-pointer with eight seconds left bounced off and Western Michigan escaped.
Larson finished his career with his first double-double, posting 12 points and a career-best 11 rebounds. Scott Thomas had one of the best offensive games of his two-year career, scoring 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 3-of-4 from long range. In all, Bowling Green made 8-of-12 three-pointers. Joe Jakubowski added 11 points, on 3-of-3 three-pointers, and seven assists with just two turnovers, while Dee Brown came off the bench for the first time all year to end with 10 points. As a team, Bowling Green had just 10 turnovers but forced just six Western Michigan miscues. The Falcons held a 34-20 edge in points in the paint and an 11-6 advantage in fast break points. However, the Broncos had 14 offensive rebounds and a 19-7 lead in second chance points. The loss marks the end of the careers of four Bowling Green seniors – Larson, Otis Polk, Erik Marschall, and Matt Karaffa. All four were members of the 2008-09 MAC Championship team. The Falcons finish the season with a record of 14-16 and went 6-10 in league play.
Official Basketball Box Score
Bowling Green vs Western Michigan
3/7/10 2 p.m. at Kalamazoo, Mich. (University Arena)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Bowling Green 14-16
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 THOMAS, Scott....... f 10-15 3-4 0-0 1 2 3 2 23 4 0 1 0 37
50 LARSON, Marc........ f 4-5 0-0 4-6 5 6 11 1 12 2 1 0 0 35
45 POLK, Otis.......... c 4-6 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 4 8 0 2 1 0 28
03 KRAUS, Luke......... g 0-1 0-1 2-3 0 1 1 2 2 1 2 0 0 7
14 JAKUBOWSKI, Joe..... g 4-8 3-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 11 7 2 0 1 30
01 CRAWFORD, Jordon.... 1-3 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 3 3 1 1 0 1 14
22 BROWN, Dee.......... 4-7 1-2 1-3 0 4 4 1 10 0 1 0 0 33
34 MARSCHALL, Erik..... 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 4 1 0 0 1 16
TEAM................ 1 1 1
Totals.............. 29-49 8-12 7-12 9 16 25 17 73 16 10 2 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-25 68.0% 2nd Half: 12-24 50.0% Game: 59.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 66.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 58.3% 4,1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Western Michigan 17-14
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 McLEMORE, Martelle.. f 4-7 4-6 0-0 0 0 0 1 12 2 2 0 2 20
11 HUTCHESON, Nate..... f 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 11
24 LAWSON, Donald...... c 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 2 2 1 0 2 0 34
05 DOUGLAS, Mike....... g 2-5 0-0 4-4 0 1 1 2 8 5 0 0 0 19
23 KOOL, David......... g 7-15 3-9 3-4 2 4 6 0 20 5 0 0 0 40
01 WARD, Demetrius..... 1-5 1-4 2-2 5 0 5 1 5 0 1 0 2 22
15 WOLF, Alex.......... 2-4 1-3 2-2 0 0 0 1 7 4 0 0 0 21
33 WHITFIELD, Flenard.. 8-13 0-1 3-4 4 2 6 2 19 0 2 1 2 33
TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 25-54 9-24 16-18 14 11 25 11 75 17 6 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 12-27 44.4% Game: 46.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-13 46.2% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 37.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-6 100 % 2nd Half: 10-12 83.3% Game: 88.9% 0,1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Lamar Simpson, Darryl Smith, David Walker
Technical fouls: Bowling Green-None. Western Michigan-None.
Attendance: 1786
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Bowling Green................. 39 34 - 73
Western Michigan.............. 38 37 - 75
2010 FirstEnergy MAC Tournament First Round (seeds: #7 WMU, #10 BGSU)
Winner advances to play #2 Central Michigan in Cleveland on March 11
Points in the paint-BGSU 34,WMU 20. Points off turnovers-BGSU 11,WMU 10.
2nd chance points-BGSU 7,WMU 19. Fast break points-BGSU 11,WMU 6.
Bench points-BGSU 17,WMU 31. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-13 times.
Last FG-BGSU 2nd-00:00, WMU 2nd-02:29.
Largest lead-BGSU by 10 1st-09:05, WMU by 5 2nd-00:18.
|
(CLICK above for video highlights)
Comments about anything?
Thomas R. Wolf, Jr. <wmuwolf@gmail.com>