April 9, 2008

CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Bowling Green State University sophomore Marc Larson has been named to the Mid-American Conference's academic all-conference team, the league office announced Wednesday (April 9). Larson earns the honor in his first year of eligibility.

Larson, a 6-9 center from Mattawan, Mich. (Mattawan H.S.), started all 30 games for the Falcons in 2007-08, averaging 4.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots per game. He shot 49.5 percent from the field, ranking third on the Falcons in FG pct. and second in blocks.

Larson, who had scored a total of 15 points as a freshman in 2006-07, had surpassed that total by the second game of the '07-08 campaign. His total of 146 points this year included three double-digit outings in a four-game span. He scored a career-high 14 points in a win over Belmont, an eventual NCAA Tournament participant, and also had 14 points in a victory against Morehead State.

Larson's total of 36 blocks ranked him eighth on the BGSU single-season list. He had 10 games with multiple blocks this season.

The Academic All-MAC Team is the result of voting by faculty athletic representatives at each of the league institutions. A total of five student-athletes were named to the men's basketball team. The number of honorees on the MAC All-Academic Team are the number that is set for the specific sport or 33% of the number of nominees, whichever is greater.

Larson was joined on the team by Toledo's Jerrah Young and the Western Michigan trio of Andrew Hershberger, David Kool and Joe Reitz.

In the classroom, Larson maintains a cumulative grade point average of 3.94 as a mechanical design major.

The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.

2007-08 Men's Basketball
Academic All-MAC Team
* Marc Larson, Bowling Green
* Jerrah Young, Toledo
* Andrew Hershberger, Western Michigan
* David Kool, Western Michigan
* Joe Reitz, Western Michigan

(some information in this release courtesy MAC office)