Men's Basketball Survive A Scare

Saturday, January 8

Buffalo, N.Y.

7:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

BUFFALO

January 11, 2000 | Men's Basketball

Jan. 8, 2000

Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Falcons won their fifth in a row, this time defeating Buffalo on the road, but it wasn't easy after a fast start.

BG made 12 of its first 15 shots from the field to build what looked to be a safe lead. From a 2-all tie early, BG scored 22 unanswered points to take a 24-2 lead at the 12:42 mark.

BG's biggest lead of the first half was 22 points on four occasions, the latest with 5:53 left. But, Buffalo outscored the Falcons 11-5 down the stretch in the first half to cut the deficit to 13 points (46-33) at the break.

The Falcons came out in the second half and took control scoring 11 of the first 14 points to build a 57-36 lead at the 16:34 mark. BG's lead stayed around 20 points until a 7-0 run increased their edge to the largest of the game - 28 points - at the 8:56 mark.

From there, Buffalo went on a 24-6 run to cut the deficit to 10 points (84-74) with 3:25 left.

Buffalo moved within single digits for the first time in the second half with 2:53 left at 84-76. They closed the gap to as little as four points on three occasions in the final minute of play, but in each instance BG made its foul shots and increased the lead back up to six points.

BG made its last six free tosses and 20-of-21 in the second half to secure the hard-fought win. BGSU is 10th in the nation in the latest NCAA statistics for free throw shooting and shot 79.4% for the game.

Dave Esterkamp led the Falcons in scoring for the third straight game scoring 21 points against Buffalo. Len Matela added 19 markers and 12 rebounds while Anthony Stacey added 19 points. BG shot 56.4% from the floor for the game.

In mounting their comeback bid, Buffalo shot 61.8% from the floor in the second half.