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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons To Play Three Games This Week
December 27, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 1999
They begin the week with a home contest against Illinois State on Wednesday at 8 p.m. They then make the short trip to Cleveland to face Cleveland State at Gund Arena as the second game of the sixth annual Rock-N-Roll Shootout with the tip-off scheduled for 8:30 p.m. BG then makes the trip north to Rochester, Michigan to battle Oakland on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.
THE RECORDS: The Falcons have won all three of their games this season and 10 of their last 12 dating back to last season...BG has won five in a row at home, including their opener on Saturday over Arkansas-Little Rock, while they captured their only road game to date, a 53-49 win at Hawaii...Illinois State will bring a 1-2 record into the game at Anderson Arena Wednesday night...they have lost their last two contests, a 72-70 decision to Western Illinois and an 89-79 decision at Akron on Saturday...ISU was 16-15 last season and finished seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 7-11 mark...ISU was 2-8 on the road last season and they have split their two road contests thus far this season...Cleveland State will take a 1-3 record into the contest against the Falcons in the Rock-N-Roll Shootout...CSU won its last outing defeating Hawaii Hilo by a 77-74 count...Oakland will take a 1-4 record into a game Dec. 4 at home against Southern Utah before meeting the Falcons...Oakland was 8-4 at home last season and have dropped their only home game to date this season to Illinois State.
SERIES NOTES: Bowling Green has met Illinois State on the hardwood just one previous time, that a 61-57 loss in overtime in the 1982-83 season...that game was played in the Illini Classic...Bowling Green and Cleveland State have played 13 times with the Vikings holding a slim 7-6 edge...the last meeting between the two programs was a 1992-93 meeting in which CSU won by a 61-59 count at home...CSU has won the last five meetings which ended a BG six-game winning streak in the series...the two schools have played only four times in the last 20 years...Bowling Green's 70-59 win over Oakland at Anderson Arena last season was the first series meeting between the two programs.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons won their only game last week posting a 91-84 decision over Arkansas-Little Rock in the home opener...the win extended BG's winning streak in home openers to eight while they extended their homecourt winning streak to five...after four ties and eight lead changes in the first 10 minutes of the game, BG took control for good with a 14-4 run which was then followed by a 16-5 run to end the half with a 50-33 edge...BG led by as many as 21 points in the second half before UALR made a late run and closed the gap to seven points with 44 seconds left...but, BG made seven-of-eight from the charity stripe down the stretch to secure the win...Anthony Stacey led four players in double figures with 21 markers while Len Matela added 20 and Dave Esterkamp 19...BG shot 60.8% from the floor in the game, 65.0% in the second half.
STACEY EYEING RECORDS: Senior forward Anthony Stacey (Elyria, Ohio/Grafton Midview) comes into his final season with a chance to put his name among the elite who have played at Bowling Green. Stacey, a first-team All-MAC selection last season, needs just 337 points to become the career scoring leader and just 22 steals to take over the top spot in that category. The least amount of points he has scored in any of his three previous full seasons was 433 and the smallest number of steals he has had in a season was 36. He is now ninth on the BG career scoring list with 1,498 points while his 180 steals is third on that list. He also has become one of only 14 players who have collected 600 or more rebounds with 603 in his career, 13th on the all-time BG list. Stacey also ranks 11th in school history having shot 51.0% from the field. He could finish his career as high as fifth on the BG career rebounding list. A second-team all-district pick of the coaches last season, he averaged 18.5 points and 5.6 rebounds with 13 efforts of 20 or more points. Stacey was a first-team preseason All-MAC selection and has been tabbed by several preseason magazines as the Player of the Year in the conference.
BOWLING GREEN FAST FACTS: The Falcons continue to get strong play from sophomore Len Matela (Merrillville, Ind./Andrean) off the bench...he has come off the bench in all three games to make a major impact averaging 12.7 points, second on the team, and 8.7 rebounds, which leads the team...he is shooting 60.0% (15-of-25) from the field and 72.7% (8-of-11) from the charity stripe...11 of his 26 rebounds this season have come at the offensive end...last season he averaged 6.2 points and 5.1 rebounds playing in all 28 games while starting 12 contests...he had five double-doubles (pts.-reb.) during the course of the season...he equalled his career high with 20 points in the win over Arkansas-Little Rock hitting eight-of-10 shots from the field...he is averaging just over 30 minutes per game off the bench...junior Trent Jackson (Rochester, N.Y./Franklin H.S./Ohio State) had his best game in a BG uniform scoring 17 points in the win over Arkansas-Little Rock while also adding four assists and one steal...he hit seven-of-10 shots from the field...he has started all three games this season averaging just under 23 minutes per game...senior Dave Esterkamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) continues to be one of the best all-around players in the MAC...he had 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in the win over Arkansas-Little Rock...he hit eight-of-11 shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers...he leads the team in assists, is third in scoring and steals, and tied for fourth in rebounding...BG has now outscored its first three opponents by a total of 32 points in the first half of those games...the Falcons are now 65-14 at home over the last six-plus seasons having won 22 of their last 25 at home over non-league foes...with the win over Arkansas-Little Rock, BG has now won eight straight home openers...the Falcons will play Arkansas-Little Rock again this season with a game scheduled for Dec. 30 in Little Rock...the last time BG started the season 3-0 was 1996-97...the last time the program started out a season with four straight wins was 1974-75 when Pat Haley's squad won its first five games...BG's game in the Rock-N-Roll Shootout this weekend follows the Gonzaga and Cincinnati contest which tips off at 6 p.m.
ILLINOIS STATE NOTES: Head coach Tom Richardson is in his first season as the head coach of the Redbirds after spending six season as an assistant in the program...it is his first collegiate head coaching position...ISU returns five letterwinners and two starters from a year ago...guard Tarise Bryson (6-1, Jr.) averaged 15.5 points a game a year ago earning the MVC Newcomer of the Year award...he has averaged 23.0 points per game in their first three contests this season having scored 24 points in each of their last two games...he has nine three-point field goals to lead the team, which is half of the team total, while he also leads the team lead averaging eight rebounds per game...L. Dee Murdock (6-9, Sr.), who averaged 14.0 points last season after spending his first two seasons at Missouri, had 23 points in the loss to Akron and is averaging 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds...P.J. Smith (6-4, Fr.) is the only other player averaging in double figures at 11.0 points...Smith has hit 12-of-16 shots from the field this season...he had 16 points in the win over Oakland...Illinois State posted its only win of the season in their opener at home over Oakland by a 72-67 score...ISU has dropped games to Western Illinois at home (72-70) and on the road at Akron (89-79)...ISU is averaging over 20 turnovers per contest, but have outrebounded their opponents by 10 caroms a game...besides Bryson, Murdock, and Smith, ISU also starts guard Isaac Kincaid (6-3, So., 8.0 ppg) and forward Dan Luczywko (6-8, Jr., 4.0 ppg)...ISU has nine players averaging 10 or more minutes per game.
CLEVELAND STATE NOTES: Head coach Rollie Massimino is in his fourth season with the Vikings...his teams have compiled a record of 36-51 while his career record stands at 463-329...the Vikings return three starters and seven letterwinners from a year ago when they compiled a 14-14 record and were 6-8 in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference placing fourth...they lost in the tournament semifinals to Detroit...forward Sonny Johnson (6-5, Fr.) leads the team with 56 points (14.0 ppg) shooting 57.1% from the floor...he also leads the team averaging 5.3 rebounds per game...Johnson had 28 points in the season opener against Ohio...guard Damon Stringer (5-11, Sr.) is right behind Johnson averaging 13.8 points, but he shooting just 34.3% (23-of-67) from the floor...they are the only two players averaging in double figures...Stringer, who had 20 points againt Rhode Island, leads the team with five three-point field goals, but is shooting just 15.6% (five-of-32) from beyond the arc...forward Tahric Gosley (6-8, Fr.) is averaging 5.0 rebounds per game...besides their win over Hawaii-Hilo in the last game of the Big Island Invitational, CSU lost to Rhode Island (73-69) and Cincinnati (91-56) in Hawaii and lost an 87-82 decision to Ohio to start their season...guard James Madison (6-2, Jr.) is one of the three returning starters and led the team last season averaging 15.0 points...he has scored 38 points in the first four games this year, but is shooting just 27.2% (12-of-44) from the floor.
OAKLAND NOTES: Head coach Greg Kampe is in his 16th season with his teams having compiled a record of 265-166...Kampe is a BGSU graduate who lettered in football and basketball during his career...guard Brad Buddenborg (6-5, So.) leads the Golden Grizzlies averaging 19.2 points while also leading the team with 18 three-pointers shooting 42.9% (18-of-42) from beyond the arc...forward Dan Champagne (6-6, Jr.) is averaging 18.2 points while shooting 56.5% (35-of-62) from the floor...they are the only two players averaging in double figures...Champagne has two games of 20 or more this season with a high of 26 against Michigan...Buddenborg has topped the 20-point barrier three times with a high of 27 against Illinois State...Champagne leads the team with a 5.6 rebounding average while Buddenborg has averaged 5.2 caroms...Oakland is averaging over 30 three-point field goal attempts per game while shooting 32.0% (49-of-153) as team from beyond the arc...Oakland had all five starters returning from a year ago, including Champagne and Buddenborg who averaged 15.9 and 15.0 points per game, respectively...both Champagne and Buddenborg had 10 points in the game against Bowling Green last season...Okland's lone win this season was an 82-74 decision over Hawaii Pacific in the Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Hawaii Pacific...they lost to Toledo (74-65) and LSU (87-80) in the same tournament...their other losses were to Illinois State (72-67) and Michigan (82-62).
NEXT WEEK: The Falcons will play their second of three straight road games making the trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa for a 7 p.m. game on Dec. 11. The Falcons complete their three-game road swing with a Dec. 18 contest against West Virginia which will be played at the Civic Center Coliseum in Charleston, W. Va.
Probable Bowling Green Starters
F - Dave Esterkamp, 6-7, 220, Sr., 12.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg F - Anthony Stacey, 6-4, 235, Sr., 15.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg C- Brent Klassen, 6-8, 220, So., 2.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg G- Trent Jackson, 6-4, 205, Jr., 9.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg G - Keith McLeod, 6-2, 185, So., 11.7 ppg, 3.0 apg Off The Bench G- Dubrey Black, 6-3, 185, Jr., 2.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg G - Graham Bunn, 6-1, 170, So., 1.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg C - Len Matela, 6-9, 220, So., 12.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg
Compare The Teams
Bowling Green Scoring: 68.0 ppg Scoring Margin: +9.3 FG%: 48.0% 3-Pt. FG%: 26.7% FT%: 76.1% Pts. Allowed: 58.7 ppg FG% Defense: 40.0% Reb. Margin: +4.0
Illinois State Scoring: 73.7 ppg Scoring Margin: -2.3 FG%: 41.4% 3-Pt. FG%: 38.3% FT%: 71.4% Pts. Allowed: 76.0 ppg FG% Defense: 42.5% Reb. Margin: +10.0
Cleveland State Scoring: 71.0 ppg Scoring Margin: -10.3 FG%: 38.8% 3-Pt. FG%: 19.8% FT%: 60.2% Pts. Allowed: 81.3 ppg FG% Defense: 46.7% Reb. Margin: -3.8
Oakland Scoring: 71.2 ppg Scoring Margin: -6.6 FG%: 39.1% 3-Pt. FG%: 32.0% FT%: 82.9% Pts. Allowed: 77.8 ppg FG% Defense: 46.3% Reb. Margin: -12.4
